The Taking Town
by Lighter
Summary: Light just wanted to find Mikami, his lover, who left him without word one day. But he had no idea to what lengths he'd go to in order to get Mikami back.
1. On the Hunt

Warnings: This story contains, violence, gore, sex mentioned so complaining little bleeps don't go running (p.s. to them booooo), language aaaand no that's all I can think of. A little OOC to fit the S.H. needs.

Disclaimer: I don't own the fandom Death Note nor I own the fandom Silent Hill. I make no profit from this story what so ever I'm just enjoying sharing my crazy thoughts with other people.

A.N.: This is not a cross over simply aaaaa use of situation for something new. You don't have to know Silent Hill to understand this story, you don't have to know Death Note to enjoy the game sense. Thank you for reading, and thank you for reviewing. I'm not sure when the next update will be but hopefully not too far off. Enjoy. Fantasy.

...

Light, I miss you. I want to see you again. Please meet with me in Silent Hill. Mikami.

The letter was so short it was practically a postcard. But the impact it had on Light Yagami you'd swear it was the greatest novel ever written- granted you like novels filled with nothing but angst. Light let's out a sigh as he reads the letter over then over again. 'I want to see you again. He wants to see me... Mikami; after all this time, after those brief months together. ...What's changed? Has he missed me as he says he does or is he...' His thoughts trail off. Again he reads the letter. Walking to his couch he drops his weight down heavily into the soft cushion, back landing against the back of the seat with an audible thump. Releasing another heavy sigh, Light tilts his head back, left arm lifting to rest his forearm over his eyes as if it were a curtain being lower to start a film, and with the flash back that comes over him everytime he remembers the man it may very well be a movie. A movie that plays only for Light to see, a movie with a broken ending that seems it will never have a finish or ounce of closure between the two main characters: Light Yagami and Teru Mikami. Their three months, in reality, were three years ago but it always seems like it happened just yesterday for Light. Yesterday, a few hours ago; to say that Mikami meant something to Light was an understatement. He loves the man and was sure that he was loved the same in return, yet, out of the blue Mikami just left him. No words, no letter, no call just... gone. Since then Light has become a bit shrewd, bitter- jaded if you will- towards love and anything like it.

But you wouldn't be able to tell it if you were to watch him live his day to day life. The people that work with him find him a delight to be around, true he's a bit stiff since he's such a hard worker- it makes them look bad, who wouldn't turn their nose up with envy from time to time, but Light is a good guy. Light's ability to treat people kindly, despite his true feelings, never wanes but when he's alone... all alone in it, you couldn't say that you know the man at all.

'I was twenty six, Mikami was twenty eight and we just happened to each other- no warning, no knowledge of what that first day would bring... so innocent and in love.'

3 years earlier.

"Sorry." Says a woman before scooting out of the way of a man on a bike, whose wheel bumped the back of her bare leg.

"No, its my fault." Says the man before getting off the bike to walk it across the street once the sign on the otherside gives the crowd permission to cross.

It was a dreary day outside that May; warm and muggy, the kind of day that makes you sluggish and impatient, at least, that's what it felt like to Light Yagami. He's on his day off and decided to do some errands since there was nothing to do around the house but read and he's been through his entire library of books twice over. So that morning he made out a nice simple list of things that needed to be done but have been put off constantly due to his dedication to his job as a photo journalist for the Kanto regions top selling newspaper. It was because of that that he was out on the day when Mikami came into his life. Light had just dropped off some items into the backseat of his car, a few things from the electronics store: a toaster, it needed replacing months ago but he'd never cared enough for the need of toast to do anything about it right away. He also got another two electronic notepads since the last one crashed from being over-used in his work time. From there he went to the library to pick up the latest detective novel from his favorite author which he'll start reading while waiting for dinner to finish cooking. Tonight was something easy, just a throw away dinner so he could clean his house up a bit and relax, as days off should be spent.

Checking his watch he looks across the street. 'I'm making good time. I can take a side trip for a cup of coffee.' Thinks the male, crossing the street.

The coffee house was a place he stopped by often enough but that was usually during lunch breaks. Light had never been to the place so late in the day, 6:15 p.m. which is how he'd ended up seeing the man for the first time. The door pushed on his end just as it was being pushed on the other end. Through the frosted glass he can see a pale face with dark hair around it, in all honesty he looked like a ghost. Not wanting to prolong this situation Light waves his hand as an apology before backing away to let the man out.

"Thank you. I wouldn't want to be held hostage in a coffee shop because the door can't be simulataniously opened from opposite sides." Jokes the man.

Light smiles at the comment. "They really should consider changing it to double or make it easy on everyone and get a revolving door."

The man laughed. "Exactly. Have a nice day." He says before walking away.

"You too." And he meant that.

After bumping into the man Light's day did seem to brighten a little bit, it was almost like the man's words were law and the unknown force that crept into his bedraggled senses vanished allowing him to feel the warmth of the day as nothing but a refreshing change in the past three rainy days. Ask anyone whose dated Light- and they are few- but the man is anything but pleasent relationship wise, at least in their opinions. He comes off as stuffy and impatient, almost high-handed with his personality towards them so they would soon grow irritated and leave him, which was fine with Light because after so long people grew unappealing to him and he would often look at them wondering what he was thinking to even consider the initial "yes" that allowed the person into his life for the short amount of time. By no means is Light a snob he simply has high standards and serious goals in life that might get hindered or slowed down by his relationship in some way; some of the women in the office joke that the reason Light is gay is that that there is no chance of children, but of course to say that he's gay would mean that the prestine and polished male would take time to delight in something as frivolous and dirty as the joys of sex.

Checking over his list once he's gotten his coffee he stops into a Staples to grab: white out, shoe laces, high lighters, pens, and scotch tape. Placing the items into his car with the others he climbs in; cup holder holding his drink he then heads to the market, the last stop on his list. Light walks down the long freezer until he spots the item that he's shopping for. Reaching into the freezer his hand brushes another that was reaching for the same food.

"Oh excuse me." Say two voices. Retracting their hand the two look up to see who could be trying to filtch the last lasagna.

Smiling, Light says kindly. "Its you."

"I could say the same. Nice to see you again."

"You too," He then adds. "you know, I didn't realize it the first time I bumped into you but I've seen you before a few times. You go to the coffee shop a lot don't you?"

"Everyday, same time. Its my favorite place but, if you've seen me enough times to recognize me, how is it that I've never seen you?"

"I drive by there everyday on my way home from work, you're always just coming out." He shrugs casually.

Greenish brown colored eyes soften behind the glasses, and a hand comes out. "Teru Mikami."

Taking the hand, he throws in a curtious little bow. "Yagami Light. Nice to finally have a name for the face."

The two men then look down into the freezer at the lasagna then back at each other wondering who would make the first move.

"I have this once every month, it would be a crime to take it away from me when technically I have dibs."

"Oh really?" Light smirks when the man nods. "Well, it just so happens that I've never had the pleasure so I think that the man with less experience will get more out of it than the man who does it once every month." He reaches into the freezer; his warm fingers sticking to the cold plastic surrounding the frozen dinner.

"I don't think so," He grabs onto an end. "what if you don't like it? It'll go to waste rather than be enjoyed by someone who knows what to expect." His grip strengthens, showing off a rather impressive muscle beneath his light blue t-shirt. The man is clearly no stranger to the gym.

A silent stare down goes on between them but Light is the first to give, only because something like this is too ridiculous to have last longer than a moment.

"Look, maybe we should just share it." Offers Light. "Its big enough for a family and we're just two guys. What do you say?"

Mikami thought the offer over. After what seemed like a half hour he released the lasagna and nods. Light was delighted for the company, even if it seemed like Mikami would rather eat alone; he'd just have to deal with it. Besides, who wouldn't be a little hostile going home with a complete stranger. Paying for the dinner the two exit the store going to Light's car.

"You're riding with me?" He asks when opening the backdoor.

"Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, I just thought that maybe you'd be taking your car and following me."

"I took the bus- I always take the bus when its just short trips around." Taking a seat in the passanger side he buckles himself in.

Sticking the key into the ignition Light shakes his head in amusement. "You're very brave Mikami, getting into a car with a stranger like this." Checking the mirrors he backs the car out of the parking space, the vehicles front wheels turn before it speeds off to straighten them out. "I could be a serial killer working an angle on you."

Mikami cocks a brow. "What makes you think that I couldn't just as easily be a serial killer?" His gaze glances into the back seat. "Besides, I can't be threatened by a man buying a toaster and black shoe laces."

That earned him a laugh from the driver. Mikami felt sick breaking from his usual routine, and so heavily at that. Anytime the man begins a habit he's good with it for years at a time. When he was six every morning he would have the same cereal for breakfast and lunch, dinner wasn't his call so he stuck with the habit of Alphabits cereal and a ham and tomato sandwich. At the park he would swing first, use the slide second, and hang from the monkey bars before going home. When at school he'd had pens, a different color for a different class and he would never use one for the other on any day. As a man he got to choose everything he did down to the last punctuation and he's stuck with it since. So to have Light Yagami come along and ask him to his place for dinner was a punch in the face by a long shot. He could see having to use the public restroom breaking his routine but going to someone elses house? Next month he'll have some correcting to do to fix this tarnished day.

...

"So you're a journalist?" Asks the man after sipping a bit of wine from the offered glass that he gladly took. It will definitely take the edge off of his rattled nerves.

"Yup, right out of college. Its a passion of mine to spread the word of the world to people through words and pictures. I think the proper way to teach people isn't just by word of mouth but visually too. Think of it this way; if you write a story about farmer's hard work in the fields people will think about it, but most of them need a good example so the picture will help provide that, though, its just an example. I don't write about such tiny things." He says in his defense.

"I don't think it's tiny, even the smallest changes help. It could give the people some shred of light towards buying fresher foods when they see the hard work man has put into it rather than a machine."

A snicker comes from the brunet. "Forgive my saying so, but you act sort of like a machine." When the man raised a brow to the comment Light goes on to explain. "Well, you said it yourself, you have lasagna once a month, on the same day, regardless the day of the week; plus, when I'm coming home from work I see you leaving the coffee house every day. If that's not a machine..." He trails off with a shrug.

"I guess that's true. But, I'm here now." He looks into the host's rich brown eyes.

Mockingly Light says. "You sound so romantic."

"Do I?" He responded taking it seriously, and taking another drink he added then after. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Light waves the comment off. "It isn't that, its just that when it comes to love and relationships people have told me I'm hard to get along with."

"Really? You seem like a great guy to me. How many people have you been out with? Probably dozens, right? You're very good looking."

"It doesn't matter about that... and its only been two people; but since we're getting so personal, how 'bout you? You're good looking enough, you must have plenty of people after a date."

Mikami shrugs. "In my defense, I think I'm in the same boat as you." He swirls the drink around in the glass; the rich burgandy color leaving a faded stain before dissipating. "People find my unyielding schedule annoying and they back off after a while."

"I see. ...It smells like dinner is done."

"No. It'll take at least another forty minutes; the scent just means the chill is out of it. Now it has to cook." He takes a drink.

"Wow, you really are obsessive compulsive. You even know cooking times. Its very impressive."

"Impressive? Now you're just being kind to me because of what I said."

"I'm honestly not trying to flatter you. I just think it'd be nice being with someone like you... most people come and go but you..." He trails off. "It sounds so pretentious to say but, you'd probably really be there for someone until they're the one that lets you go. I'd like that sort of stability in my life."

Mikami says nothing to this, and goes on sipping his wine watching the man swirl his own drink.

"I've lived a very exhausting childhood because of the person I am, I thought once I got away from my home life I would change all that- show my true colors, and just take what comes my way."

"But?"

"But it didn't happen like that. A six year old to a man, I guess you could say I'm obsessive compulsive with my own identity crisis." He chuckles but the sound of it is low and sad. "It doesn't matter now; exhausting as it is, we make our own demons half the time, right?"

"You're right about that." He raises his glass clanking it to Light's. "To maybe having more dinners like this, a good break from our demented habits."

The two men laugh.

...

They had only been waiting for the lasagna to cool when Mikami finished his second glass of wine. He was looser that was for sure. He'd taken off his glasses tugged the tie from his long black hair and just lounged on Light's couch as if he had been there all his life, and was very comfortable with the man. Light took a seat at the man's hip, one arm stretched out with his hand holding the back of the couch. He had told Mikami that the food was going to get cold if he'd planned on napping, but to his surprise his habitual friend placed his hand to Light's cheek giving it a gentle caress before pulling the brunet down to meet his lips. The kiss tasted of red wine and peppermint from the darker haired man's banaca. When Light backed away Mikami had apologized only to have his lips seized by the homeowners; the kiss was hungry but full of want, so-much-so that the two barely managed to make it into Light's bedroom where they dropped onto the bed. Mikami on the bottom, Light's body falling between his obsessive aquaintance's legs.

A soft rustling sound plays through the air as their clothes caress in the mash of their up and down movements. Out of control kissing turns into frantic huffs and puffs as their lower regions begin to stiffen up. Their hips work harder into the other's seeking real contact beyond the clothes but neither man made the first move yet being too enthralled in the deep kiss. Absently Mikami's hand began caressing Light's butt with a firm hand then squeezed none too gently on the firm cheek. The motion dropped the journalist's weight a notch, further erecting their members. Their heart rates raise as Light leans up to sit properly between the man's legs as he removes his clothes; Mikami doing the same, though, he lifts himself up on his elbows and while raising his shirt up he receiving help from Light, who is now completely naked before Mikami could even remove one piece of clothing. The lawyer; Light had found out during their earlier conversations, fell back onto the bed once the shirt was tugged from his body. Light leaned over kissing him once again while helping Mikami undo his pants. The second the clothes hit the floor their bodies press together, hips swivveling and grinding, mouths panting and kissing.

'Mikami and I were a couple after that moment.' Thinks Light bringing himself into the present, feeling as if he'd be lost in the memory of that life splitting orgasm if he allowed the thought to go on any longer. 'I became a part of his habitual lifestyle, a very good part as he often told me. We'd have a lasagna dinner once a month, ignore it while it cooled to the point of having to microwave it once we ate, and we'd make love over and over, talking for hours afterwards.' Dropping his arm to his side, he looks out the window behind him. Its gotten dark. 'We were together for three months and then he just disappeared on me. But now this letter, after three years of not a word or sign of the man. ...How am I supposed to take that? Do I go to him? Do I ignore it?'

Light of course knew the answer to that before he could even really get the thought out. Three years. Three years is a long time to hold a torch for someone who left you so empty and alone but he must have had a good reason, and is now ready to explain it to him and make it up to him, then they'll be together again. Light is packing his bag, taking only four things, he can't imagine needing any more since he plans to bring the man back to Kanto with him so they can live together. 'I'll leave as soon as I can get a flight out there. But wait...' He checks the address on the envelope. "America. Mikami was living in the states. No wonder I couldn't ever find him." Dropping the letter into his bag he zips it up setting it under the bed.

Calling the airport he checks for flights getting a ticket for the earliest one possible. By four o'clock tomorrow he'll be in Silent Hill.

The airport is crowded moreso than usual. Light arrived a half hour before take off; he hates waiting for so long. It wasn't hard getting the week off, his boss Demigawa practically shoved him out the door, joking about how he would normally have to pay Light just to get him out of the building for holidays so of course he could have time off. He told his parents that he was going on a short vacation since he would be missing the Sunday dinner at home. His little sister Sayu begged him to take a ton of pictures because she's never been out of the country and wanted to see what other places look like, she also wanted a souvenir of any kind. Light adores his sister and promised to bring her everything he could get his hands on.

The announcement for his flight departure sounded, alerting Light's attention. Hoisting the strap to his travel bag over his shoulder, he walked onto the plane taking a seat by the window; the journalist looked around him at the other faces- what little faces there were, that is.

'Guess its not a very popular place.' Thinks the male.

Lack of people allowed him to set his bag on the seat beside him and for the doration of the trip he chose to read from a new book he'd bought hours before coming to the airport. The entire flight took a day and a half. It was strange, though, that no meal was offered but he supposed they considered it a short flight so it didn't require meal times, or maybe it was due to the lack of people. At least they were offered drinks. He only had a small bag of chips from a vending machine at the airport to snack on. The other passangers didn't seem to care about food or drink, giving off an air of restlessness and boredom. No one spoke or looked around, they just sat and waited. Once Light left the airport, he took a cab to a car rental place. He isn't directly in the town of Silent Hill but on the outside. When asking for directions, two out of the seven other people on the flight said that he had to drive in. Its a resort sort of place and to keep the volume down its away from nearly everywhere; you'd think it were its own island or something.

The journalist rented a black Prius, and he was sure to fill out all the insurance papers incase of an accident. The drive out was a sight to see, the area was beautiful and covered in a thick forest of luscious green oak trees or maybe black walnut. In the distance he can see houses and shops approaching and a large lake surrounding a small area. Half listening to a song that's playing on the radio his attention is taken away from the scenery and brought to the radio, the song wasn't even near the end before it got cut off and static took its place. Sure that its the station having technical issues Light presses the shift button only to receive more static from the other stations.

'This place must have bad reception.' Turning the radio off, he's startled when it pops back on, only its louder and still nothing but the sound of static is coming over the end. Remembering that its a rental car, he thinks dejectedly. 'This thing must be broken.' So instead of turning it off, he decides to turn it all the way down. If the thing insist at staying on, he at least doesn't have to hear it.

A sign told him that he was in Central Silent Hill; his honey colored gaze takes in the area around him as he passed by. Its buzzing with activity: people shopping, hanging out, pitching fits over something, but he continued on through into the next town; this place seems more like a city and Mikami's address is definitely a home. The car parked at the first convenience store that Light saw. He needed to buy a map to help him get around easier, and tiny stores like this always have things like that on-hand. This place is a bit different, though, Light notices. There's no activity going on, no voices, no sounds at all really.

'Guess they call it Silent Hill for a reason.' He thinks recalling what the other people coming in spoke about. Heading into the store he looked around and was very surprised to see the state its in. 'Looks like someone ransacked the place.' Stepping over a knocked down rack that once held sunglasses, he walked carefully through the store. "Hello?" Looking around for any signs of life, a frown crossed his mouth. The owners could think that he's a vandal and be hiding. "Hello?" He calls again.

During his walk through, Light spots the item he'd come in for. Minding a spilled box of instant oatmeal he grabbed a map from the shelf. "I'll leave the money behind for this, so you can get it whenever you want." He says to no one. 'I should tell them what I took.' Heading out to his car he grabs a small notepad and a red sharpie from the glove compartment. Writing: one map, on the piece of paper he places it on the counter with the money on top to be sure that it stays there. "Now let's see." Opening the map he looks it over. "Old Silent Hill."

Light wasn't sure where he was. Heading back outside he walks up the street a bit to find a street sign. Locating one, he checks the map and sure enough he's in the right place. "There's Levin Street." His pulse begins to pound. He can hardly believe that Mikami is a short drive away. Climbing back into his car, he's about to pull away from the curb but got stopped up by a garbage truck that goes lumbering by without a care in the world. 'Nice to see some signs of life.' He comments to himself before starting down the street.

...

'I was on Finney, which makes Levin this way.'

The car turns off at the sign. Light's really becoming more nervous about this meeting as he approaches the house. What will he do when he sees Mikami? Should he ask him why he took off with no word or letter? Should he ask him what his letter meant for them? Ask him if he wants him back, and forgives him for whatever he's done that ran him off in the first place. No, Light was sure he'd done nothing wrong to cause the man to flee. Mikami must have been in some sort of trouble and had to go, or maybe he was in a bad relationship that he hadn't managed to get out of yet. Whatever the reason, he had to ask the man and he has to know.

'House 350. There it is.' He turns off the car engine.

The neighborhood is just as quiet as the local areas he'd passed on the way: a book store, pharmacy, a fish and fries and nameless buildings lining the other side of the street. All of them were as empty and lifeless as this neighborhood.

'Maybe there's some sort of holiday today, so all the stores are closed. But then where are the people in the neighborhood? Even on quiet days there's a kid outside or a dog barking.'

Speaking of a dog, he did see one on his way down the street. It was digging in the bag of a turned over trash can; Light felt for the poor guy he saw earlier knowing he, being the garbage man, would have to pick that up.

'Enough stalling...' He barked at himself. Climbing out of the car he walks up the paved path to the door pausing for a moment when, what appears to be, a snowflake falls from the sky. 'Snow? In May?' Holding out his hand, his vision catches sight of someone moving beyond the window of the home. "Mikami!" He rushes to the door.

There was no sense in holding his dignity if the man knew he was there. Knocking on the door it opens almost instantly but to his surprise it is not his runaway lover that he sees but a young boy, who couldn't be any older than 12 maybe 13. "My name is-..."

Cutting him off the child says in a very bland tone; maybe even more dull and lifeless than his appearance: white hair, bored dark gray eyes, and very pale skin as if the child hasn't seen the light of day in his entire short life. "Light Yagami."

Blinking in confusion of how the child knows his name and yet he, Light, does not know him he nods. "Yes." He answered thinking all the while. 'Is this, the reason Mikami left me, he has a child with someone?' Light mentally shakes the thought away. 'He doesn't look anything like Mikami, but then who is he? A nephew; was it a sick relative that took him away?'

Finger in his white hair, curling a clump of it around and around, the boy smiles at him. Its a funny sort of smile, one that holds many secrets but would rather play with you emotionally before allowing any of them to slip out.

"I was asked here by a man named Teru Mikami, your uncle? Maybe older brother?" Light fishes for the kids relation with the man.

"This man you speak of, I am neither his nephew nor his brother and I'm definitely not his son." His dull expression never wans, his eyes stare hard into Light's confused honey colored gaze. "Teru Mikami, you said?"

"Yeah, he wrote me this letter saying to meet him. Here," He hands it over to show the boy the address.

Looking it over he hands it back. "...Yes, I remember now. I found that letter a month after I moved in here with my caretaker. I thought it was important so I mailed it off. Sorry to say it, but your Mikami is gone."

'Gone?' Light feels his heart sink. "Gone? ...He didn't leave a forwarding address or anything?" Remembering that he'd sent a reply on a post card he asks. "I sent a reply, did you get it?"

"A post card, sent express, it came yesterday. I thought it was weird receiving mail that said nothing more than: I'm on my way; So I sent it to the post office in Central, they may tell you where your friend is currently living."

"Thank you." Just as he's about to leave he stops himself. "Central? That isn't anywhere on this map."

"You'll need a Central map then. Do you have the current one with you?"

Reaching into his back pocket he pulls it out. "Hold on a second." Going back to his car he gets his red marker. The snow is really coming down now, he'd have to hurry if he's going to be driving around in this sort of weather. He wouldn't want any accidents. Returning to the home he hands over the map and marker. "Here."

"Thank you." Walking into his home for a brief moment the child returns handing over the items. "The post office is on Crichton, you can't miss it. Blotch is how you get to the bridge. Good bye." He closes the door as though Light were nothing more than a low ranking door-to-door salesman.

"Thank... you.." Walking back to his car, he climbs inside. Securing his seatbelt he starts the car then follows the map to Blotch taking the quickest route he could find.

He finds it unusual that the snow isn't sticking but it is out of season so maybe its cold enough to snow, but warm enough to keep it from sticking. That doesn't make any sense but he doesn't have time to care about weather conditions right now. Turning up the volume on the radio he sees that there are still no stations playing anything so the sound is turned down once again.

'So Mikami didn't mail me the letter. Does that mean he doesn't really want me back, that he doesn't wanna see me? He wouldn't have written me the letter if he didn't mean what was in it. Maybe Mikami just lost his nerve, that's why he couldn't mail it off himself. He thought that I'd be upset with him and blow him off or write back with something cruel.'

Light is back at the convenience store, leaving yet again another note telling the owner that he took two other maps, and to pin the notes down he again places the money on top of them. Light figured where there's need for one map there's need for two more. The Central map and one for the outskirts of town; this place really is like its own little island and the mainland was a three maybe four hour drive just to get in here. The car turns down Bachman Road. Light can't help but think back to the only two relationships he's had before Mikami where he behaved a bit jaded or anal but with Mikami he was open and honest and Mikami was the same way with him. It was the best part of being with the man. He did though, notice a few distant looks in his lovers eyes during their three months together maybe it had something to do with that.

'Hn. Look at me, pining over some lost lover and chasing after them rather than letting them be, accepting what they want. This is against everything I stand for and yet, here I am still on the hunt for him. I just have to ask him-... dammit!'

His foot slams down on the breaks, the car skids violently to a jerking stop hard enough to push it forward just a bit more then it rocks back enough to return it to where it had first stilled. Startled to fright, he catches his breath for a moment, before peering out the windshield over the hood of the car. There's no way he's seeing this, but as he climbs out of the car, he sees that its true. There's an enormous crater in the street. It must be the full length of a house and miles deep. Kneeling, he looks down into the darkness and a piece of the street crumpled under his foot clattering all the way down into the hole.

'Why were there no warning signs that the road was under construction?' He wonders standing back up. 'Hn. Sayu wanted interesting pictures...' He digs in his bag locating his camera and with one snap he takes a picture of the hole in the road. Placing the camera strap over his head he lets it rest on his chest as he returns to the car. 'That's really dangerous. I'd better mark it down so I don't end up trying to use this road again.' With his marker he places a large X on the street.

He found his way back to Levin street; a glance at the home he saw no life this time, no peeking child or any of the other people that inhabit his lover's old home, he didn't even see the dog from before, but thankfully the snow had ceased. "I don't believe this! Another crater?" He marks it down on the map. "How am I supposed to get to Central when all the streets there are out?"

That's when he spots the garbage truck from before. Surely he knows the way out. Jumping from the car he darts up the street after the driver.

"Hey! Hey wait!"

The truck rides along for a second then comes to a stop. The door opens allowing a blue leg to peek out before a slender body slides down from within the large vehicle.

"Hello? Excuse me," Light approaches the male. "could you give me a hand, I'm sort of stuck and can't find my way. A lot of the roads are out." The driver gives the journalist a bored stare but it doesn't disuede Light in the least. He's been around all kinds of people and handles himself professionally regardless. "I'm trying to get out of town, to Central but like I said the roads are out."

"You're not from around here," The garbage man says dumping two large bags into the back of the truck. It looks just about empty, so what's he been doing all this time?

"No, I'm not which is why I'm asking you for help." Light steps to the side to avoid being brushed by the male. Up close he can see that he has lengthy blond hair and hard turquoise eyes, like he's seen many things and hated them all.

"You didn't let me finish," He removes another bag by hand from the next trash can. "you're not from around here which means you shouldn't be here. So do yourself a favor by leaving."

"I can't do that, I'm looking for someone." He's growing steadily frustrated.

That made the trashman laugh. "That's unfortunate; your friend is either the greatest fuck alive or a real prick playing a sick joke to ask you out here."

"He's my ex-boyfriend," Light remains calm to the shrewdness. "maybe you knew him-.."

"Why would I?" Angered he cuts him off.

"Because you're the garbage man, he lives in one of the houses on your route so his name would be in the pay role. 350 Levin?"

"Nope. I'm only here to collect, I get paid in central and don't ask questions." He removes his cap to run the back of his forearm across his forehead.

Surprised, Light blinks in shock. "You're a lot younger than I would have guessed." He comments to himself.

"Gee thanks, bad enough I have to smell trash all day but now I'm getting the oldman card slipped my way."

"That's not what I'd meant."

"It doesn't matter; so you said you wanted to get to Central? Better get a move on before night fall. Find your friend and don't look back when you go."

"Done. Just show me the way out."

The blond eyes him like a hawk. "Follow my truck; I was leaving for the day anyway."

"Thank you."

"Least I can do for someone in the same boat as me." He gets into his truck.

Processing the man's muttered words he wonders. "What does that mean?" Hurrying to his car when he sees the truck pulling away he follows after the man.

The truck moves noisely down the street turning on Midwich. While steering, Light marks an arrow on his map so if he has to come back he'll remember the safe passages. Ahead a school approaches; Light can't help but feel an eerie presence eminating from the place as they near it but thankfully they make another turn without passing. Marking Bloch Street on the map as safe, Light then keeps his attention focused on the path ahead. The drive took an hour, but for Light it seemed longer as every second is slowed down by thousands as more questions for Mikami swarm in his mind making him feel almost paranoid with scenerios.

'Stay focused, Light, losing your cool isn't like you at all. Everything is gonna work out just fine.' He's not sure why but he thought maybe the young boy was lying to him; kids have tendancies to lie- though he'll admit the albino haired child seemed rather mature and level headed, not at all intimadated from being questioned by an adult.

The truck pulls to a stop. Looking around it, leaning a bit from the window, Light can see the driver exiting the truck. The blond walks around the back of the vehicle between it and his car to press a large orange glowing button. A tone sounds; it must alert someone in the tower beside them and sure enough a voice comes from a little box next to the buzzer.

"Hey Mello, done already?" The hidden man must have noticed Light's car from a security camera or something because he then says. "I see you've brought someone with you, a friend?"

"I don't know him, just helping him get to Central." He replies.

"You're a good man."

"You wish." He returns to the truck after sharing a laugh with the man.

Try as he might Light could not see up into the tower. His attention is caught as Mello, he now knows is the male's name, enters the truck again. The bridge is lowered and the two wait it out.

'That's weird. No boats are around so why keep the bridge up?' Focusing on driving when Mello honks the horn to catch his attention, he watched in the rearview mirror as the bridge is raised once again after they've safely passed over it. The journalist can already feel himself relaxing once they hit Central; people are everywhere, cars are actually moving rather than just parked around the area, there's a cat being chased by a dog. Civilization its a beautiful thing. Checking the map he looks around for a street tag. "That boy said its right off the bridge on Crichton and I'm on... Sagan." He drives forward turning on the first turn to swing back.

A blue sleeve covered arm is stuck out of the window of the garbage truck as Mello says his goodbye's.

Walking into the post office, Light smiles at the man behind the desk. "Excuse me?"

The man's narrow eyes make contact with Light briefly before he turns on a lighter expression, putting on his customer service voice. "What can I do for you?" He asks.

"I have this letter from a friend of mine and came out to visit him as sort of a surprise." He lies believeably. Passing the note to the man he adds. "I kind of sat on the decision to come for a bit too long and in that time he moved to a different location without telling me- poor guy must have thought that I blew him off."

The man only seemed to be listening while not actually paying attention; so Light wraps up the story.

"Anyway, do you think that you can give me his forwarding address?"

"I'll check the computer." Taking the envelope beneath the counter top he says. "Teru Mikami... Here we are." Having the address written out on a sheet of notepad paper he hands it over to Light. "By the way, if you're planning on staying you might wanna check the bulletine board," He points over the male's shoulder. "for the curfew."

"I will thank you." Much like the man to his false story, Light listened without really paying much attention as he's too busy reading over the address.

"There are also panthlets at the police station if you'd like to stop by there."

"Sure. But, if I find my friend I should be fine." He walks away glancing at the board.

It reads: 8:30 pm during daylight savings, 8:15 pm in the fall.

'Why so early?' His photographic memory memorizes the board easily and he's out the door then into his car. Looking over the address again he checks all three of the maps seeing that Mikami is on the third. 'Wouldn't be romantic if he didn't live in the outskirts of the town.'


	2. Direct Attention

A.N.: Thank you for reading, reviewing and voting. If you're not a hardcore Silent Hill fan Near will explain it all in one chapter so don't worry.

Light couldn't have been more displeased to watch the busy town shrink away in the rear view mirror. That place was thriving with life compared to the town of Old Silent Hill; noise, a comfort that he hadn't realized he needed in all his years of living in the city. Day by day he would grow tired of the streams of people bumping into each other or holding him up when he's getting around on foot- even by car, but to be in a place that empty was unnerving.

Much like the drive in, the empty road is surrounded by trees on either side but far in the back of the forest, on the right, he can see a large lake glistening in the setting sun.

Checking the clock he frowns. 'I didn't realize that it was getting so late. I'd better speed up- not like anyone else is on the road with me.'

Going only five miles over the speed limit of 45, Light wonders silently how long the drive will take; lack of music can be unbearable sometimes. Reaching for the volume knob he jumps from start when a terrible blaring sound comes from the radio. Flipping stations its the same thing on every one.

'Forget it, I'll pop in a cd.' He declares to the station Gods who have decided that they hate him today. Glancing at the road he then looks down into his glove compartment for a cd, any one will do at this point. 'Classical, that should brighten the mood of this trip.' Slipping the disk into the stereo he glances up again before looking away to press the buttons to start the thing. Suddenly, when looking back up, he spots something dart out in front of the car but it happened so quickly he was unable to swerve out of the way and the car ran the thing clean over, bumping the wheels up over it; it's so large it was like a speed bump.

The car came to a sudden halt. Light gripped the wheel unable to believe that he'd just run something- or worse- someone over. Would his one chance to see Mikami be a single phone call from a jail cell? Of course, he could always hire his lost lover as his lawyer. You have to wonder what kind of defense he would come up with. Sorry your honor but my client was only searching for me, whose been missing for three years without a word of why I left. Yeah, that'd go over big. Bracing himself for the worst he climbs out of the car. Walking over, he stops in his tracks like the ground before him were suddenly made of lava due to a crow letting out a low KAW. Turning his head in its direction, Light spots someone moving behind the trees; its tall, dark hair- or at least it seemed to have dark hair he wasn't sure- the sun was steadily sinking taking away any clear view.

Calming his nerves he continues to the limp body. "A-... are you alright?" He asks incase its a person. Closer now he catches his breath on the sight of the thing.

Its pale, the size of a person or perhaps a large dog... it looks like its been skinned. The head is missing, the hands, and feet all cut off at the ankle, wrist, and neck. It wasn't moving so much as an inch from where he had hit it but the thing that caught his eye the most is the long gash on its stomach; the blood around it long since dried and congealed ceasing to leak out anymore. Kneeling a bit, Light reaches out for the thing to roll it over but another sound caught his attention. Overhead something large and black swept the sky in a pace so quickly you could only hear the sound of air being cut through, like when you slice at the air with a knife. Since the thing was obviously already dead from the start he felt no need to stick around any longer and quickly returned to his car. He didn't even buckle himself in, he just put his foot on the pedal and continued into town.

The apartment building loomed over the quiet city like a king, the building next to its partner; its quiet in this town but not like the other one, you can actually tell people live here but they're turning in for the night. Shops are closed and street lights are on; the place is most certainly lived in, there was even one other car heading off somewhere. A large gate surrounds the building. Light walks in closing it behind him; the building has double doors with glass windows in them revealing someone on the other side.

Hurrying his steps inside, he pulls the door open. A woman is at her mailbox, turning her head in the direction of the door she offers him a smile. Returning the smile, he figures the woman might be the one to ask where Mikami's room is.

'Right.' Reaching into his pocket to remove the note from the post office he looks up to see that the woman is now gone. But it isn't like she'd taken the stairs, or walked down the nearest hall as there were no foot steps sounding and she had not gotten on the elevator or anything, she was simply gone. 'Just get the room.' He orders himself. Light looks over the mailboxes and sure enough there is a slip of paper with: Mikami typed out on it beneath an open-face clasp. '304D.'

Taking the elevator; Light, again, can't shake the smile tugging at his lips. This is it. He's really going to see him now. Has he changed his appearance? Lost the glasses, cut his hair, grew it out longer. Light could feel himself twitch inside remembering the feeling of his hands running through the male's hair. He really hoped that Mikami would be happy to see him and not just have a fit over the fact that his privacy was violated by a ten year old causing his ex to come harassing him. When the elevator door slid open with a ding, he walks into the hall. A thin blue carpet strip set in the center of the floor extends to every reach of the hallways. The walls look dingy, in desperate need of a new paint job, the floor needs to be swept a little, the window at the end of the hall near a fire exit door looked to be covered in white crust so you can't clearly see outside. The lobby has got to be the only good looking place in the building if all the floors look like this one.

'How can Mikami live in a place like this?' He starts down the hall. 'One... Two... Three.' Going one more door down he figured discretion would be a dumb move since the peephole would give him away. So knocking he openly calls out for the male. "Mikami, are you home?" Knocking again he waits for a reply. "Mikami?" He waits. Lowering his gaze to the un-swept floor, Light can feel a pair of eyes on him. Turning he spots a wide-eyed dark gaze upon his back from the home behind him.

The person in the door looks shocked that he's been seen, but then he steps back away from the door opening it as wide as it can be with his hand still on the knob and arm extended. His black hair is swept about his head like a fog around a very pale face and shockingly vacant black eyes that seem to look deep into your very being. Minus the man's strange eyes, he reminds Light a bit of Mikami, the first time he'd seen him through the fogged glass at the coffee shop. Pale and ghostly.

"You're looking for Teru?" He asks in a voice, that Light would describe as, perfect for his drab, watered down looks.

Figuring he's getting nowhere with the empty or possibly occupied apartment he turns to face the man fully. "Yes, is he home?" He wondered for a second why he would ask such a question to this man. How would he know if he were home or not unless the two were friends or this man liked to peep at every one resident or stranger that comes into the hall.

The man cocks his head back and forth as if he really has to think about the question. "No. But I know where he is."

"Really?" Light's control over his eagerness betrays him every time.

"I said I did, didn't I? He's at the market, I know" He goes on saying. "because I asked him to pick up a cake for me."

"I see..." He thinks for a moment about leaving a note, or somehow maybe getting into the apartment to wait. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No time soon, he just left maybe 3 minutes ago. Would you like to wait in my apartment for his return?" He steps aside as if not to take 'no' for an answer.

"Could I? Thank you." He heads inside the man's apartment.

"My name is L, like the letter not as in el hombre or el hijo, but more like un apodo- a nickname." He climbs into an arm chair, one foot at a time, turning with the first step so that he's facing the correct part of the seat before he settles in an odd position with his knees bent up at his chest. "It stems from the multiple l's I have in my name Lawliet Elliot. Have a seat."

Taking a seat in the extra arm chair in the circle of living room furniture he replies. "Light Yagami. I don't have any nicknames to speak of."

"Mm." Replies the man to the comment then adds. "Nice to meet you, Light. Would you like something to eat?" He holds out a beautiful porcelain tea plate with a blueberry cheese cake on it.

Looking about the room Light can see that the place is loaded with sweets; any flat surface in the room contains trays filled with cakes, cookies, brownies and other strange desserts that he's unfamiliar with. Not really hungry, Light shakes his head to the offer. "Thank you, no." Having no desire to sit silently with this man while he eats, Light makes some light conversation. "You say that Mikami is bringing back a cake for you from the store?"

"That is correct." He takes a bite of a shortcake that smells to have a lemon filling hiding beneath a large amount of whipped cream.

"But don't you think that you have plenty?" He gestures a nod around the room.

"You can never have too many of the things you enjoy, Light." He sets the dessert down reaching forward to pour hot tea into a small cup, he then hands it to his guest by setting it down in front of him on the coffee table. "Besides, I baked these simply for the smell; I'm terrible at baking" He returns to eating his short cake. "they're all completely inedible."

It wasn't so much what L had said but how he had said it that made Light shift in his seat. If he were writing a report about strangers in the neighborhood he'd put L down as public weirdo number one.

"How is it that you know Mr. Mikami? The man isn't exactly a social butterfly."

"We used to date."

"I see. When did he have time for that? In all the time I've known him he's behaved like a bit of a shut in. Living a routinely dull life."

"He used to live in Kanto, Japan."

"Mm. Must have changed since then. The man I know now is very quiet and to himself; it took me some time to befriend him."

'Maybe he's just got a hang up with weirdos.' Thinks Light. "Does he shop for you often?"

"No, I like to go shopping myself but-..." L silences, his gaze shifting towards the bedroom door. "I feel like I have to be here today."

Light is looking towards the bedroom now, also, due to a hard thumping that sounds a little like someone throwing themselves into the wall or maybe having a pillow fight with it. Looking back to L he notices a bitterness under those dead eyes of the man's but they changed to a sort of sadness shortly after, returning then to its empty gaze that met Light's watching eyes.

There was no asking the man what's making the noise without being nosy, but it was becoming more frantic, he even heard something that sounded like glass breaking. "Aren't you worried? I think they might be hurt."

"Its nothing to bother yourself with, he just wants attention." He sips his tea.

'Nothing to bother with? Is he keeping someone tied up back there?'

Hearing a panicked grunt come from the bedroom, its all Light can stand. He has a strong urge, ever since he was young, to sort of look out for the world; his father is an F.B.I agent and he saves people all the time; if Light hadn't become a reporter he was sure he would have taken a job in the same field. Getting up from the seat he heads to the bedroom reaching out for the knob, but the second the door cracked open the sound stopped abruptly. He couldn't understand why but it unnerved him, pulling the door closed he turns to the calm man in the chair, who's casting a mocking eye his way.

"There's no one in there, Light. Its a recording, nothing more or less."

Light felt a sudden panic sweep through his senses but he kept his cool, returning to his seat.

"May I ask what it is that you do for a living, Mr. Yagami?" He's eating the cheese cake he had earlier offered to Light. "I work in advertisement. I came here on vacation long ago and couldn't seem to leave the place."

Light had his doubts about that. Sure, Silent Hill is a resort place but he must have missed the captivating beauty and wonder of the place by being creeped out from its inhabitants and lack there of. "I'm a reporter." He says as if its not very interesting, but it seemed to still his host from eating, in fact, he put the plate and fork down all together; a bite sits on the end of the utensil.

"A reporter, you say?" His voice has a tinge of bitterness behind it.

"Yes, for one of Japan's most popular newspapers."

"Then might I suggest that once your find Mr. Mikami, you leave this place abruptly after." His eyes are dead serious and his tone is stone set with plead.

"That was the idea." Light says with a bit of caution in his voice. L looked as though he were going to attack him at any moment; swoop in like a gargoyle and kill him.

L seemed surprised by that statement, and relaxes back into his eating. "You have one week."

"Excuse me?"

L made it sound as if he were going to be searching forever when Mikami lives right across from him. The man only continued to eat his sweet, in no way willing to repeat himself.

Cocking a brow when L says nothing beyond that, Light stands. Its time that he left. The thumping began again, this time the wall where the bedroom door is located shook a bit after several thumps from whatever is on the other side. Something about that is very strange, and very much none of his business. "I'm going to wait for Mikami in the lobby. It was nice meeting you."

Taking a sip of his drink, L replies sullenly. "No, it wasn't." Though he waves to Light a goodbye. "Sometimes, Light, the things and people you're looking for cannot be found easily. You end up thinking about them, dreaming about them to the point of sleep walking. They're always so close and yet so far away." He then silences, almost like he were closing in on himself.

With no further word, Light retreats from the horrible home. Letting out a relieved sigh of freedom, he hears a click from the door infront of him. "Mikami!" He pushes himself from L's door to bang on his lovers but after three slams of his fist into the thick wood he stumbles back a step or two watching out for a long metal door that's sliding into place over Mikami's home. 'Now what?' Banging on the metal door he calls out. "Mikami, Mikami!"

Metal doors begin to slam down all around him in the hall blocking off entrance and exit into the homes. Confused, Light turns around to bang on L's door; he, at least, knows that he'll open it. But the man remained inside. He can't get trapped here! Darting down the hall before the elevator doors are blocked off he sees that he's already too late. The door to the stairwell is blocked as well! Will he have to spend the night in this hallway?

As if things weren't bad enough.

"Rrr." He grits his teeth while covering his ears to block out the sound of a very loud, blaring siren. It could break glass!

Its so sharp and piercing. But there, inside the siren, is another sound; one that resembles maybe cement sliding from itself in a very cramped space. Scrape, scrape. Very slow, very approaching. Turning his head, one eye strained open from their pained scrunch shut, he sees something white coming up the hall very slowly, like he has all the time in the world. Which gave Light all the time he needed to duck into the only door not closed off- a laundry room. Down on the floor, ears covered, eyes closed tight, legs pulled in like the mysterious L. He can hear the sound moving closer and closer... closer... He wasn't sure why he didn't run to the man to ask for help, but the presence felt off. Not like the dark haired man in the now blocked off apartment, but off like the thing he'd seen fly overhead when he was out in the forest.

When the sound was directly up to the door it froze. Slowly, Light found himself wondering if the man had disappeared like the woman in the hall, as if he'd just made it all up perhaps, mind games from being in such a strange place. One shaking breath at a time, Light turns his head, eyes opening to see what would or would not be standing next to him. If he were a less stable person, Light Yagami was sure he would have died from sheer fright. There, before him, is a tall figure of a man or so it seems it's human; long legs covered in dingy, blood rusted black leather pants that are nearly hidden by a long equally bloody and dirty lab coat but the head, the head is what made Light question this things humanity because rather then a head it seems to be nothing more than a large triangle, almost like an oblong pyramid jetting forward about five or sex feet before the things body and its made up of what looks like pulsating, throbbing purple and black, puss filled tumors sticking out in the shape of a large bill. Its standing very still almost as if its waiting for Light to make the first move, but was unable to wait for very long as it turns its head to face the male. Its free hand going up towards the horror of a face and it moves a large flap of skin over peering down at hime.

From the angle he's in Light can't see any eyes, but if he could he would have seen that the only thing in that head are empty, crusted sockets. Replacing the flap, the thing moves up the hall at the same slow pace it had walked up. Light, frozen, sees that the thing he'd heard sliding along is a large broad sword in the shape of a meat cleaver. Breathing returning to function he gets up to make a run for it, anywhere he can go but he's hit over the head hard, dropping to the floor.

...

Light wasn't sure when he'd woken up, he wasn't even really sure how he'd gotten out of the building, actually, but he found himself running hard towards his rented car. Woodside was just a dark memory as he tore away from the area in his car. Seeing what he saw back there... His mind is spinning with wonder and fear; he wouldn't have been surprised if his body decided to implode in on itself just to get away. Flashes of how he'd gotten out came rushing to him all at once. He had gone out into the hall and something heavy hit him on the back of the head, he'd blacked out. Waking up sometime later, he found himself alone in the dark hall; that horrible siren still ringing in the background, but thankfully the man was gone. Returning into the laundry room he found that the barred window opened from the inside for incase of fires. Opening it, a fire escape was below and he escaped down the stairs. It was sad, though, just as he pulled himself from the building he could hear voices screaming in the background and one of them sounded like L. He hated himself knowing that the man was in trouble and he did nothing about it when he was so willing to help whomever might have been in the strange man's bedroom, but that was a whole other story because there was no man with a cleaver involved. He values life, but he values his own moreso.

The car takes a sharp turn; it was a wonder that the post office box wasn't plowed down by his hasty retreat. He has to get to old Silent Hill; surely Near will give him a place to stay, after all, its his fault that he's in this nightmarish place. He had no right to send Mikami's letter to him, of course he hadn't read it but he should have had some sense that Light would come answering it, he even sent him a reply! Realizing he's out of the building and the speed is un-needed he slows down, allowing the crackling from the radio to sooth him a bit. His car has reached the connecting strip of forest that will take him back into Central. No sooner had he made it out of the other town does he hear the flapping of wings, loud, reminding him of a bat coming into heavy contact with bullet proof glass. Leaning forward a bit he looks up into the night sky trying to see the thing but his attention is pulled away when his headlights shine brightly on something long and pale standing in the way of the car. Slamming on the breaks, wheel spinning to get out of the way, the car slams into the metal railing that lines the street from the forest. He's very surprised that the person wasn't hit because he was so close the end of the car could have smashed them.

Looking over his shoulder he sees the person moving closer, the red taillights make it look almost inhuman, especially with the stumbling ways its walking over. At least there's someone else outside with him, maybe he can give them a lift for the company. The man or woman, its hard to say, gets behind the vehicle, forearms come up and with its elbows it pounds down on the trunk.

'What the hell?' Light presses the cars horn to tell the person to move along, but it does no such thing. It only pummels the trunk harder, hard enough to leave dents. 'Is this guy crazy?' Honking the horn again, he turns in his seat, rather than watching through the rearview mirror, and to his horror the persons strange behavior shows off the alarming fact that it has no hands attached to its wrist to make it worse, there is also no head. Turning his attention forward he shifts the gears into reverse, hopefully the car will work after the crash it had just taken, he would have sped away if he didn't catch sight of a dozen more of the creatures now standing at the front of his car. They're everywhere, blocking him in completely! Dozens of them! Gastric sounds escape them from somewhere: a hard gargle or strange stomach growl. The windows are becoming unusueable from getting covered in thick spurts of blood leaving from the decapated limbs.

He's about to tear out of the entrapping area but he's startled hard by another five banging on the drivers side of the car forcing him over into the passangers seat, back to the door and legs extended to the now empty seat, he watches the... whatever they are attempt to get into the car with him.

'Should I run them over?' He wonders climbing back into the drivers seat. The car bumps up into the air like a child on a lower bunk kicking the upper mattress. 'They're under the car too! No, maybe it came from the roof?'

The radio came to life suddenly, and a voice followed soon after. "This is your friendly announcer and tour guide, Matt Jeevas, coming to you live with tonights safety announcements to all you poor souls stuck out on the roads. Naughty, naughty, you really should remember to follow the curfew. But here are your safe havens as followed. To those of you stuck on the road here in Central swing on by the police station, that's where I'll be and I'm bored out of my mind so please hurry in."

'Is he serious?' Light wonders just how close he is to Central not willing to call more attention to himself by turning on the overhead to check the map.

"Anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck in Old Silent Hill find your way to Blotch street and get inside the Balkan church." This Matt continues slowly.

Sure that they are not human and no life would be lost, Light slams his foot down on the gas pedal, creating a whiff of smoke in the air from the tires screeching before the vehicle jerks backwards knocking over the crowd, speed bumping until its over their bodies. Changing gears to drive he tears out of their as quickly as he can; white knuckles gripping the wheel. He can make it to Central.

Their uproar grew as they followed after Light on feetless legs, stumbling and tripping over their own growing numbers. More of them come from nowhere! He knows he can't make it to Central, its too long a drive; so bravely he lets up on the pedals, the speed decreases. "Come on, say the outskirts." He pleads with the faceless man. Stopping the car, he turns off the headlights hoping it will help, some, with keeping the headless things away; he can hear them in the short distance but the sounds are lower like some of them may have let up or quit.

Maybe ten or thirty- all of them launch themselves at the car, their assalt hard enough to tip the moving vehicle over.

"Come on!" He demands from the announcer as he swirves the car again to head back into town.

"And finally, if you're in the outskirts of town locate the boathouse by taking Nathan Avenue- that means you, Light Yagami."

The overhead light is on to help him locate the street and with quick glances out his window, he sees the street tags just barely due to the blood streaks. Rolling the window down, he checks one last tag. He's on the correct street. The car zips along at top speed practically coming apart when he hit the break at his destination.

The radio long sense died off leaving him alone from any type of human contact. Getting out of the car, the door remains open as he heads away from it into the boathouse which was thankfully unlocked. Although, he had to question if that were good or bad because those things might be inside.

Its dark, no lights working as he flips the switch up and down waiting for the bulbs to work but they remain dead. From what he can see the place is a wreck, just like the convenience store in the Old town. Not a good sign. Stalking across the room he heads outside; unsure of whether or not he was supposed to stay indoors or take a boat out on the lake for safety he decides that being out in the water is a lot safer then waiting inside the place to be attacked. Light removes the rope tied to a pole on the port, climbing inside the row boat he grabs the oars then rows himself out on the water. The fog is thick and blinding all around him. His skull is buzzing from nerves and wonder of his safety. He was five hard strokes out when he realizes that he's no longer moving.

Wondering if he'd hit shore, he looks behind him then over to the side when the sound of bubbling water catches his ear. Watching something slip back and forth beside the boat he knows its stupid to do it but he leans over a bit anyway. A soggy, green arm shoots up out of the water almost instinctively, wrapping its hand around Light's wrist.

"No!" He tries pulling away but it only seemed to give the hand strength. He continues to struggle only to have another hand pop out to join the first. The boat rocked and swayed... he knew what would happen next and closes his eyes waiting for the impact.

...

Taking in a hard suck of air, Light coughs and sputters, turning his head to the side to allow the water to run out of his mouth. Blurred vision sees daylight before another image blocks his view.

L is crouched over him with a weird smile on his face. "Odd time to take a swim," His expression died as if his voice had killed it. "wouldn't you agree, Light?"

"I didn't have much of a choice." He continues catching his breath finding it strange that he can actually feel his breaths now. Before, last night, he couldn't feel himself, by that he means all his normal functions that he's very aware of seemed not to be on. All he could feel was fear. No heart beat, no shortness of breath, he wasn't even aware of his blinking! It must be what a panic attack feels like. It's all head and no body.

"What were you doing outside after curfew? Didn't Mikami let you in?" He straightens up. Even standing the man seems to prefer a slouched position. Reaching out a hand he helps the dripping mess to his feet.

"I wasn't able to get his attention before the door was blocked off by some metal baracade." He looks down at his soggy posterior. "Didn't you hear it slamming shut, you were inside?"

"Everyone hears them, its our way of keeping safe from break-ins."

"That's pretty extreme. ...What about that siren, though?"

"Its to signal curfew."

He's speaking as if this isn't weird at all, as if every thing is no big deal.

"But I heard you screaming?"

"You're mistaken. Come with me, Light, I've got a change of clothes in my car. You can have them since you're dripping wet." The man has that strange smile on his face again.

Hanging out with him was the last thing that Light wanted to do but he has no choice in the matter. Hell, he isn't even really sure where he is right now. Catching up with L, he spots a loose fit black shirt and a pair of blue jeans in the back of the SUV.

"I have a towel for you to use, I was going to use it myself but you seem to need it more."

The door is opened for him and from a gym bag he retrieves the large fluffy towel. Removing his shirt and pants without hesitation; the door blocking his free show from the sweet loving man, he dries himself off quickly, dressing just as fast. "Thank you for saving me, but..."

L cuts him off to say. "Never heard a 'but' from a guy who's received a second chance at life- well, unless he's suicidal. Are you suicidal, Light?"

"No, I'm not." The man could piss a statue off, he's sure of it. "I only meant to ask what you're doing out here. You must have broken curfew as well." He also wanted to ask if Lawliet had seen the creatures following him, but he didn't dare to say such a thing.

"Curfew ends at five o'clock, its now six fifteen." Looking down then up he adds. "I was out for a jog."

"I have to get back to Mikam-..." He sways in his step, the fatigue of last night catching up to him.

"You should take it easy, you're in no condition to be moving around so quickly after nearly drowning." Walking around to the other side of the car, he says softly. "I'm in the mood for some stuffed french toast. Climb in, I'll treat."

In no mood to waste another day- or minute for that matter- in this place he reluctantly climbed into the car with the man. "L? If you're going for a jog then why do you have your car?"

The man glances at him then back at the road. "I usually drive out to the best location to be alone, I do my work out then drive back. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No." Watching the forest turn into the city, he watches as the town moves about alive and thriving. 'How did I get out of the building? Am I crazy? Or was I dreaming the whole thing. L said that the sirens and baracades are true but what about that other thing?' He can barely remember what it looked like now.

They're on Katz Street reads a street tag and the car pulls up to parallel park at Cafe Mist. The two climb out and head inside. The look of the place is friendly: chatting people, babies crying, the smell of cigarette smoke. He spots a blond head at the end of the bar belonging to that man, Mello, from the other part of town. Does he live out here? He and L take a seat in the center of the bar on very comfortable swiveling stools.

"What can I get you?" A man looking to be very young and sounding the same greets them with nothing more than a smile before asking for their orders.

"I'll have the banana peacan stuffed french toast, Mr. Matsuda." L says right off the bat.

A dry sound leaves Light's throat as he can't believe he's having breakfast with this man instead of returning to Woodside apartment to see if Mikami will talk to him now. He's probably at home. "I'll have the steak and eggs, please."

"Coming up."

Glad to have a second with the man, Light touches L's thin shoulder. "L, can you give me a lift back to your apartment. I wanna see if Mikami is at home."

"You really shouldn't have left then, he was there. I even saw him on my way out." He takes some sugar packets dumping them over into his coffee. "He seemed pissed."

"About what? Did you talk to him?"

"Nothing beyond 'good morning'. Why, should I have mentioned if he'd seen you?"

'Would have helped.' He looks down at the food set before him. It looks delicious: sunny side down eggs, a thick piece of steak with a side of hash.

"The hash comes with any order of eggs." The man seemed almost to apologize about that. "You're new here aren't you? I've never seen your face before, and I know pretty much everybody."

L was in his own little world pouring syrup onto the toast before reaching for the powdered sugar container. Perfect time to get some answers.

Switching almost to work mode, Light asks. "Mr. Matsuda, you say you know everyone then do you know a Teru Mikami?"

"Oh sure, he had a case here once before, he's a lawyer- black hair?"

"Yes, that's him. Do you know where he works?" He had to know, incase he should have to make another trip around this place if Mikami isn't at home.

"Not exactly, I don't get that deep into another mans personal life. But I can tell you that he was working on a case here three years ago. A big one too, a murderer named..." He held his tongue when looking over at L. "Let's just say he was able to put the man away for a long time. He'd somehow gotten out, though and... Well, that's why we have curfew." He laughs it off.

'So that's why Mikami looked so distant, but then why didn't he tell me about the case? Moreso why didn't he come back once the verdict was over? Was he glad to leave, looking for a way out? Or was he captivated by this place like Lawliet had been?' He takes a bite of his meal, chewing it slowly.

"So, can I ask why you're looking for him? Do you need a lawyer for something?" Ask the man behind the counter.

"He's searching for love." L answers.

Light shot him a bitter glare.

"Oh, so then you're not with... I mean, I'd just assumed that because you two are here together."

Light shakes his head. "We're just aquaintances."

"Aquaintances?" L repeats.

"Has Mikami come through here anytime after the trial?" He wants to know even the smallest places he can cut the illusive man off.

Matsuda thought for a moment then replied. "Sometimes, but not recently like a week or something."

"L? When did you first meet him?" Light turns in his seat just in time to hear the addressed say.

"In some places an aquaintance can come into your home and cook you a meal, but not for you, you just take a man's help and be done with him. I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"When did you meet Mikami? You said you know him well enough, and from what I know he used to live in Old Silent Hill."

"I met him... exactly three years ago seven months after he'd moved into the apartment."

'Why would he give up his home suddenly? He wouldn't move because of the case, would he?' Light sighs. 'Why does any of this matter? Do I really need to know why? ...I do. For my sake and the sake of getting him back; maybe I can change whatever had happened.'

"He does this sort of thing alot?" Asks Matsuda to L.

"He's a reporter." His breakfast is finished, a finger is mopping up the remaining syrup.

"A reporter?"

"From Japan."

"Wow. Hey, you know you've got six days right?"

"He knows."

But Light wasn't listening to either of them, still trying to process what he's learned. Only a new thought crossed his mind. The trial. Maybe that's what happened. But he'll never know for sure until he finds Mikami to ask.


	3. Beyond Help

Light is thinking about what he'd heard in the diner from that, Matsuda, guy. The thoughts circulate about his mind wondering, was Mikami in witness protection? Why did he move away just to come back three years later to a different home? Does he know that the guy he put away got out? And what does L have to do with any of it, since Matsuda seemed determined not to talk about it with him around. Does L know something that he's keeping from him? Sure he only just met the man but keeping important things from people is very rude, especially when it involves someone's well-being.

_'Should I ask him? I don't see why not, after today- hopefully- I won't see any of these people ever again anyhow.'_ He takes a seat in the large vehicle. But as he's about to ask the man something a thought occurred to him. "Can you take me to the boat house before we go back to the apartment? My car is there and I need to get it, so that I'm not imposing on you too much."

"I don't mind at all actually, I never have much to do besides work." He starts the engine. "May I ask what you were doing at the boat house?"

It was a fair enough question. "When I was out on the road last night a guy, Matt Jeevas, came over the radio telling me to go there for safety."

"This was during curfew?" It didn't sound as though he were questioning it, though, just making a statement.

"Yeah. Have you never heard it?"

"No, because I've never broken curfew, although, I do know Matt." The car slows to turn. "Anyway, I wouldn't hear it even if I had broken curfew; I'm not much of a music fan."

Speaking of. He reaches forward. "Do you mind?" He asks before turning on the radio.

"Go ahead."

Light expected static to come out of the speakers, so when a male pop song came out he was beyond words with shock. "I don't understand." He says to himself.

"Something wrong?" Asks L noticing the muddled expression on his passenger's face.

"...No, its just that I didn't expect to hear anything playing," Further explaining he adds. "since coming here, I've heard nothing but static crackling over the radio. I thought maybe this place had no reception but-..." He trails off while twisting the knobs around and around to other stations that are also playing music, songs, commercials, or the news.

This town grows more mysterious the longer Light stays in it. He's beginning to think this countdown is a sort of timer for how long it will take before you lose your mind. He thinks he's got a little less than six days if that's the case. Between the creatures, the silence, the odd people: Light never thought of himself as mentally sensitive but being here he'll have to give it some serious reconsideration.

"Hm." L intones thoughtfully.

Blinking Light looks at the man to where he's pointing.

"Looks like your car has been vandalized."

Vandalized isn't the right word for it, the car looked like it had been playing chicken with a truck, and whereas it stuck it out to the end it didn't exactly win considering the damage that its taken. It looked like a gang had stripped it clean, and anything that wasn't torn off hung by only a thread and if touched the wrong way that'd be it. The two men exit the car like they're walking up to a metal table in a morgue coming to inspect a dead body that could be someone they know.

Taking out his cell, L asks. "Should we report this to the police?"

"No, its alright." He ignored L's muttering about the amazing insurance Light must have gotten on the rental, as he approaches the wreck. _'Did those creatures do this?'_ Taking a seat on the ripped seat on the drivers side he reaches over into the glove compartment to grab his maps, marker, and notepad. Stuffing them into his luggage which sits in the backseat when it used to be in the trunk, but the back seat has been ripped away completely; the suitcases must have slid in during the assault.

When seeing that the journalist is heading back to his van, L asked while following. "You're really not planning to do anything about this?" Climbing in, he turns the car back on.

"No."

With a shrug showing just as little care towards the vandalism as Light, L then asked. "Back to the apartment?" He hoped there was a yes; the man's stinky clothes are ruining the delicious and delicate scent of chocolate peppermint the candy cane shaped air freshener is giving off.

"Yeah."

...

"The laundry is this way." Says L pointing a finger towards the room which he walks right by. He passes his own apartment going three doors down.

Light watches the man as he retrieves a key from the outer door frame above someone else's place. L walks back down the hall stopping, this time, in front of Mikami's home.

Seeing the look on his companions face, he answers. "This keeps us safe from people who break in; everyone knows that in an apartment the spare is always somewhere around the door, this way even if they get the key someone is bound to see them before they figure out what's going on."

Light couldn't help but frown at such blind trust. Who could say that the people in the building aren't just as bad as someone who breaks in? But when living here, he guessed that you'd have to trust your neighbors. Light wondered how a thing like switched spare keys and thick metal doors stand up to that man he'd seen in the hall- if he'd actually seen anyone. L told him that he was not screaming last night, maybe Light was just a little drained from having no sleep and flying straight here, also with no sleep, then to see that thing out in the woods and on the road. It had to be fatigue. He'd have to watch himself here, he may end up losing his mind if he's not careful.

The light coming from the home brightened the dim hall. Light looks inside his ex-lovers apartment then to L. "You're not gonna offer your home this time? Was my company really that bad?" He joked, stepping inside.

Smiling, in that strange way he smiles, L replies. "I figure this way there is less of a chance that a busy-body, like you, will miss your Mikami again." Turning away from the, eye rolling journalist, L says. "I'll be down the hall if you need me."

"Okay." Closing the door, his eyes take a look around the living room.

The size is the same as L's place, but the decor is all Mikami down to the very last photo on the wall. He takes in a deep breath pulling the scent of Mikami into his lungs. His faint cologne clings to something in the room and he gravitates to it; the couch, one of the cushions smells exactly like the scent he'd known to be the mans since their first official date. Mikami must have been taking a nap on the couch. Light takes a seat, pleased with the puffy cushions and soft material; unlike the carpet it isn't thin and lifeless, its almost as if he'd bought the couch to counter balance the thin, almost floor-like carpeting that's wall to wall. Standing, Light walks to the window to look out at the city. The view is nothing spectacular, not like in Kanto, but he can see the lake from here and supposed that that could be a good thing.

Light jumped from start when a high whistling sound interrupted his thoughts. Its coming from the kitchen. Heading that way, he sees a tea kettle sitting on the stove. Grabbing the handle he carefully places the hot-...

_'Its not hot- the stove's not even turned on!'_ He didn't want to do it but curiosity had him shake the kettle. As he thought, there isn't even any water in the thing! Lowering the kettle back to the stove, Light places his index and middle finger to his temples to calm his frazzled nerves. 'Now I can add hearing things to the list of seeing things.' He thinks good humouredly. "It could have come from next door, though, these walls could be paper thin."

It was a good idea. Grabbing the tea kettle from the stove, he takes it over to the sink; the pipes bang before water pours out from the faucet. Tipping the kettle under the stream he waits for a good enough amount of water to fill it before setting it back onto the electric stove, turning it on. Light walks out of the kitchen back into the living room. Spotting the bedroom he heads that way sure that there is a bathroom inside; apartments rarely have bathrooms in the bedroom, but he saw no small hall like the ones back home. Sure enough off to the corner of the room is the bathroom. Light helped himself to it, relieving his need to go and freshen up a bit more than toweling off the scummy waters from the lake. His hair is a caked up mess, he stinks like an athlete. Surely Mikami wouldn't mind if he used the shower and borrowed a pair of boxers and maybe some clothes since the ones he's wearing now aren't fairing so well against his dirty skin.

The hot water relaxed his muscles and eased out the tension that had been growing between his shoulder blades since arriving in Silent Hill. He scrubbed himself harder than necessary to remove the lake from his body, and only after the water ran clean down his body does he just allow himself to soak in the comfort of the shower: eyes closed, steam caressing him, cool air soothing him when his gentle, absent, sway takes him from the stream Light opens his eyes abruptly. It'd be stupid to fall asleep standing up in the shower. Reaching forward he turns off the water then grabs the towel from the bar before stepping out. Drying himself off, he wraps the towel around his waist before stepping out into the room to search for something to wear. A brown pair of jeans and a loose, dark green, long sleeve shirt; much like the one L had lent him, are produced from the closet and a pair of dark blue boxers he grabs from a dresser drawer. It feels so good to be clean again... to be comfortable again.

'I wonder when Mikami will get home?' Heading over to a small shelf, he grabs a book taking a seat on the bed. 'I'll read while I wait. No sense disturbing L, anyway. He seems content enough washing someone else's clothes.' He can smile now at the weird man. L seems so lonely, like a boy who used to own a dog but got it taken away from him. That could very well be true. Opening the book, he begins to read.

It was about fifteen minutes later that Light wondered to himself. 'Whatever happened to my tea?' Getting out of the bed he starts for the door; just as his hand comes into contact with the knob he hears what sounds like flies hitting a bug zapper. That's the best he could think of until the door shakes from being hit by something. From better listening he figures that someone has thrown his suitcase at the door, then the other. 'But who would?' The knob jiggled and rattled violently within his grip for what felt like a good ten minutes before it backed off. 'Not this again!' He holds tightly to the door knob, not about to let whomever that is in.

The whistling tea pot called his attention from the door; foot steps retreat off towards the kitchen causing Light to think that if it were some type of intruder or creature it certainly wouldn't go into the kitchen over a tea kettle, it would keep trying to open the door. Its not like he said anything to whomever it is. It could be L. He might think the door is locked and tried to get in, but then why would he throw the suitcases? Not about to stand still asking himself a bunch of questions, the journalist opens the door a crack to see if he can spot anyone from there. The tea kettle stopped whistling, so someone must have taken it from the stove. Going out into the livingroom; stepping over his bags, he looks around.

"Hello?" He calls out. Going into the kitchen he sees no one; the tea kettle is still on the stove as well, but the stove has been turned off. "Is someone here?" He tries again to identify whatever is in the home. Going to the front door he pulls it open. Looking left then right down the hall, he calls out. "L, are you still there?"

The mans head peeked from the laundry room. "Yes, I'm here."

He didn't bother to ask if he had been in the apartment or not, unsure of whether or not he really wanted to know the answer to it. So he says, "Just checking." before closing the door. Relieved, he lets out a sigh before turning back into the home. He sucked in a hard gasp of breath as a headless Mikami is three steps away from him before a large ax is brought down into his neck! Light shot up from the bed feeling the hard shaking of his body dwindle as L's hand moves away.

"You were screaming in your sleep. I thought you might be having a nightmare so I woke you." The hunched man takes a seat beside him on the bed. "Are you alright?"

Light catches his breaths, steadying his still residing fear. 'That's right. I grabbed a murder mystery. The guy in the book was cutting people's heads off. It was just a dream.'

Reaching out, L touches Light's neck. "What happened here? It looks like someone tried to strangle you with a wire."

"What?" He gets up from the bed heading into the bathroom to look in the mirror. It did look as though someone had strangled him! But how? Touching it further, he feels no pain. So then what happened to him?

"I made you a cup of tea, I heard the kettle whistle. Will you join me for a cup?" He smiles kindly.

After the dream he'd just had, Light couldn't say no.

...

Its been a quiet five minutes between them; L's attention is out the window, a distant look on his face while Light decides to observe the man. He can't help but think the man is good looking, a little thin but that isn't anything that can't be easily taken care of. Then there's the voice, calm and soothing, in no rush of anything.

'What am I thinking all this for? I've clearly been alone for too long.' Clearing his throat he sets the tea cup down on the coffee table. "So, how long have you lived here, L?"

Surprise came over the man's face as he turned to Light, it then softened to a kind expression. "I moved away once, for six years I lived in England but I was born here and came back to support my brother."

"Oh. Really?" He asks, interested.

L nods, an almost smile comes across his face. He seemed to lap up the attention as the softness in his eyes shows in his voice as well. "Yes; it wasn't at Woodside, though, me and my family own a cabin in the woods."

"A big family?"

He shakes his head. "It was my mother and father, older sister Lisbeth, and my younger brother by two years, B."

"My family isn't large either, its my parents and younger sister, Sayu." Lifting the cup he takes a sip of the dark brown liquid. "Were you all close?"

L shakes his head, the hand on the tea cup shakes as he sets it down. "I was close with my younger brother, the rest of the family didn't seem to notice me at all."

Guilt from opening an old wound pinged through Light's chest and he apologized for bringing up the painful memory. "I'm sorry."

That seemed to strike an even more powerful nerve with the thin man as he genuinely smiled at Light then said. "Thank you."

Figuring he should change the subject to a lighter one, he asks- assuming that this relationship might cheer the male up. "Where is B now? Does he still live around here?"

"Yes, and no. B is dead." L saddens. "He was killed when he turned twelve."

That didn't help the way he thought it would. He sees now whom L's lost puppy is, its his younger brother. No wonder he looks so empty. He would be just as much of a shell if he'd lost his dear younger sister. Mikami alone has him in this strange place in search of him. Light hadn't realized that he needed crutches in certain points of his life until just now. Strange how talking with a near stranger can do that to you.

"I'm sorry, L, to have brought up such a painful memory."

"Its alright. I've told this story to people countless times, no one ever really listens to the words, though, they all have their own opinions about my brother especially after what had happened."

"What do you mean?"

L sucked in a breath before he spoke; the room seemed to take in a breath as well before releasing it, a thick fog seemed to coat the entire building as it encased listening ears to the conversation between the two men, trapping them in, whether they want to hear the words or not.

"Like I said, I was invisible to my family- to everyone in the world really- but B, B was in the eyes of everyone all the time because he was born different. He had red eyes, a devils color but my brother was a kind soul... he was just driven mad. My parents beat him, spat hatred at him, starved and mocked him. B tried everything to win their favor: good grades, being helpful to them by running to the store or simply staying out late at night so they wouldn't have to see him in a day. Nothing was enough to put out their flames, though. The rest of the world thought much of the same, the kids at school teased him, threw things at him, shoved him." His toes begin to rub up against themselves. "I told them to stop, to leave Dineas alone but they never listened."

'Dineas? I thought his brothers name was B?' Thinks Light, his thoughts show on his face.

"He wasn't always named B, Light. His birth name was Dineas, but, the town changed it after he'd been kicked out of therapy."

"Kicked out?"

He sips his drink. "Mm." Setting his gaze down into the dark drink, he says. "Imagine a fourteen year old selling toys and stolen items to pay for his own brothers therapy sessions only to have the man say that he's beyond help. I made the stupid mistake of telling the guidance councelor at the school, I thought that maybe she could help my brother but she'd only made things worse for him by holding an assembly. After telling the kids to be kind to each other, never give up on one another, they had all started to call him Beyond because he was beyond hope."

"That's terrible!" Declares the journalist. He can almost see this child: sitting alone, being unloved even by his own family, hurt beyond help and now given a nickname as a constant reminder of that? How can the world be so... disgusting?

"I watched my brother go from a broken child to a near lunatic." He set his cup down, hands squeezing his bent knees. "He was twelve when he'd started to eat nothing but strawberry jam; he leaned over once when we were drawing pictures- he likes sailors and goblins- and in a childs giggle he said to me that it reminds him of brains, sweet and lumpy."

Light felt sick hearing that, his stomach turning at the thought of a child thinking that morbidly.

"And so there was therapy. When that failed to work, I tried it myself. I told my brother that he and I were all we needed in life, he agreed and said to me "someday the two of us will be free", and he meant it. And on his fifteenth birthday, Beyond Elliot became, Beyond Birthday when the police found the two of us clucthing each other in a pool of our families blood."

Light's eyes widen, his gaze shocked and horrified. There was no way that the boy could have-..

L nods. "He killed them all. Sister, parents, grandparents who had come to celebrate the monster... all of them were killed in their sleep by B."

Now Light was going to throw up.

"I knew nothing about it until he climbed into bed with me, covered in what he'd done... and he whispered "I was right L, lumpy and sweet" he laughed then, hugged me, and said that we're free." His stoney gaze shifted slightly as tears formed in his eyes. "The two of us were ripped apart, I was adopted by a family in England, I had planned to return when I hit eighteen but I was held back when I'd gone to college then started my career in advertisement. If I knew what B was doing I would have come back when I'd planned to. B didn't stop with our family, since he died- born again, truly as the monster that the town wanted- he and death had become lovers. He would say how much he'd want to see the insides of this or that, never doing it... just childish dream talk... then, he let his passion come alive by taking the lives of the home he was put in. No real family would take B and he knew that, so in that house full of hopeful children he killed them in the same way he had killed our family."

Light heard his own swallow going down, as a tea flavored vomit climbed up into his throat.

"He was thrown in juevy, but he was released when they couldn't prove that he'd done it. B killed and killed: students from days at school, the therapist who called the beast to life, the counselor... everyone was up for the chopping block. I was twenty two when I had returned, he was twenty. B sought me out and like childhood we knew we were all we had. We lived together for a short time but I asked that he stop what he's doing, that he could change, come away with me to England... he refused." L wet his lips before speaking again, his gaze outside at the darkened sky where the sun had once been showing. "I managed to stop him from doing these horrible things for a short while, but then your Mikami came along and put my brother away."

"So that's why Matsuda couldn't talk about the murders, the one who did it was your brother." Light heard his voice but couldn't remember telling himself to say it.

"Yes. When B was behind bars, he only found it as a way to kill people in a more confined space, solitary confinement was the last resort."

"But your brother was insane, wouldn't giving him a place to get help have been a better solution."

"Teru told the jury that B was not acting subconsciously, that the man had a hit list... He was exacting revenge, not mindlessly wandering. He turned his attorneys words and used them to his advantage, he is a spectacular prosecutor. Be-that-as-it-may, B was robbed of a normal life, because of the rot humanity has put into him and no one but myself would give him a chance."

"But was he killing with premeditation?"

"Whether he was or was not, my brother- to me- had every reason to want revenge. Dineas was simply crying inside and B was hushing his tears with blood shed. I saw my brother the night he'd broken out of prison, and after that I never saw him again. He took his own life." His voice shook. "Down in the basement of this apartment, he'd gone so mad that he'd dug his own brains out... with a large butchers knife, the very same one that he'd done all the other murders with."

Light wasn't sure why, but a flash of that demon he'd seen in the hall- if he'd truly seen anything- flashed through his mind. 'It couldn't be. That thing wasn't human, but then, neither was B.'

"What is it, Light? You look spooked." L's voice and demeanor returned to normal, as if closing the story had closed the book, the fog, the horror from the rest of the world. He even saw that the sun was setting, where before it seemed like night had already fallen.

"Then the curfew, was it meant for B? Because the town knew that he'd gotten out of prison?"

"Yes."

"But if he's dead than why keep them? The alarm and the baracades?" He found himself angry all of a sudden. "A story like this should have been covered on the news or in someway. And yet, I've heard nothing about it."

"There was a huge cover up, Light." L seemed almost offended by the man's sudden rage. "Can you imagine a story like that getting out? Silent Hill would go bankrupt because no one would come, its a resort place, after all. Now, the story only comes up to tourist as a sort of ghost story, which is why the alarms and things are up, it lets them feel like they're really there."

"That's sick."

L shrugged. "I think its honorable; my brother who was once a town monster became a great legend of horror. It keeps kids in line, smiles on faces all because of a little nursery rhyme that causes people to think, he could come back." He lifts his now cold tea to his lips drinking a gulp, turning his nose up at the taste. "It's peaceful now."

"There is no peace in fear."

"Isn't there?" His watch beeps. "I have to go home now, unless you'd like for me to stay and wait for Mikami with you?"

"No. I'll be fine." He bit out. He can't understand why he's so angry, but he needs to be alone to calm it down.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." He gets up to leave. When he reaches the door he stops from Light's words.

"Tell me, what's with the 'six days' countdown thing?"

"The anniversary of his death, Light." He smiles faintly, singing as he walks out, words fading but still heard through the door. "Beyond Birthday never had a life; he loves you with a butchers knife; he'll take your hands and steal your feet, your brain is what he likes to eat. Your life nothing but lumpy and sweet."

* * * * *

Log.

'I've been in Silent Hill for only a day and a half and so far I haven't been able to make much sense of the place, so I've decided to make logs of my time spent here. I plan to tell the world the deeper secrets of this place, instead of what it gives you on the outside. I know it's a resort town, welcoming tourist, but what I don't understand are the regulars who live here.

Take L, for example, he thinks its alright that his brother commited dozens of murders because of a bad life he's had. That it's an honor for the town to now use his battered name as a tourist attraction, sort of a way to keep him in the memories of the people whose families were broken because he took the life of one of them, a constant reminder of pain. But to the outside world, its only a story a way to keep them coming back or send friends. The place has lockdowns every night because this man Beyond Birthday has instilled fear into them by breaking out of prison and, no doubt after a few more murders went completely insane and killed himself in the basement. I can't say that I don't feel some sympathy for L, he loved his brother and he had to watch as he completely destroyed himself before taking his life. He'd said to me once that he came to the place on vacation and couldn't leave... he lied to me about that, because just today he told me that he lived here nearly his entire life. It makes me wonder what else the man may lie about. But, he also told me that people we care about aren't easy to find, I wonder if he meant Mikami, or his lost brother?

There's also this boy named Near, he reminds me a bit of L; both of them look as though they've lost something very dear to them, only with Near it seems that he's impatiently still searching- kind of like how I'm waiting for Mikami. I'd like to talk with Near a bit more, but I have no way of contacting him beyond going to his home. I can't see myself going back to Old Silent Hill, though, its a ghost town and the roads are broken. It seems that the only person who lives there is Near and his family. Other than that only the garbage man drives through. His name is Mello. I'm thinking about speaking with him again as well. He's an interesting conversation because he takes trips back and forth to a place where no one lives and yet he has trash in the back of his truck. I don't know anymore when it comes to this place, but I intend to find out as much as I can before I go.

Mikami seems to be evading me at every turn, the first time I missed him I wound up being frozen with fear by a man carrying a large knife, it was as large as a sword! And these things out on the road... They had no-...'

His thoughts and hand stop dead. L's words play in his head, the song he sang that reminded Light a bit of that nursery rhyme 'This Old Man'.

'He took their hands and stole their feet... their brains... Could they be-..?' His thoughts trail off. The idea of ghost is ridiculous and impossible. And besides, he already chalked them up to fatigue; he lacked sleep from the flight and hunger plays a good role in hallusonations too, the day was long and he was sent on wild goose chases for addresses. It was a long day. Now he has a place to rest his head and wait.

The door closed and through the open bedroom door Light sees L walking into the home. The man glances into the bedroom, smiling at him before pointing a finger to Light's now cleaned and ironed clothes which he placed somewhere in the room before walking back out. Light would have gone into the room to get them but he didn't think it was too important where his clothing sat right now. It dawned on him just then that he'd been so tired he put on his ex's clothes without even realizing that he has his own with him in his suitcases.

'I really am tired. I should give L his clothes back so he can wash that stink out of them.' Going into the bathroom, he grabs the pile of clothes on the floor. Walking back through the bedroom, Light leans over to close his notepad when he spots a folded piece of paper with his name on it. 'How long has that been sitting there?' He wonders. Rounding the bed to pick it up, he lifts the single fold of the paper then reads: Light, I saw you taking a nap and didn't want to wake you. I'll meet you at Neely's bar on Neely's street. Mikami. 'Mikami! He was here? When I fell asleep? Why didn't he stay, why didn't he wake me?'

In a hurry now, he grabs the map from his suitcase marking the street down. He was sure he wouldn't forget but with the way things have been going lately anything was possible. Carrying the clothes out with him, he bangs on L's door, literally tossing the clothes in the man's face, when the door opens, then he asks.

"L, can I borrow your car?" His voice came out harder than needed.

Withdrawn by the shout, the man nods instead of answers. Going into his home he produces the key for Light. "Here you are. Where are you going? Its getting late."

"I have to meet Mikami at the bar."

"Oh?"

"I'll tell you when I get back." He heard what he'd just said taking it back; there was no way he'd just sit and have a chat with this man if he sees Mikami. He imagined he'd be spending his time arguing with the man, that he come back to Japan with him, or maybe something else should the fight not happen at all. But if he were going to tell L it would have to wait until tomorrow. "I have to go, okay. I'll return your car as soon as I can."

"Hopefully not in the condition you left that rental." He comments to himself before closing the door.

Light raced out of the building, a man gave him an odd look as he whizzed passed him out the front door; the man was in the first floor hall getting a soda. Checking his watch, he sees that its a lot later than he'd thought. 'Six. I'll just make this quick, then.' Climbing in L's car, he turns on the overheard light to look for the street from the apartments location; making a mental note of it he starts the car then speeds down the road. Its fine, the people are nearly gone due to curfew coming in the next hour.

It took him 17 minutes to get to the bar and about 4 minutes to find a parking spot. He rushed across the street and a few buildings down before he could walk in. The place wasn't packed but it also wasn't empty, only about fifteen guys are inside; one of whom is the garbage man, Mello. But no sign of Mikami. He could be in the bathroom. Light really hoped that he hadn't missed the man, spending the earlier part of the day driving around with and listening to L. The three men at the counter seemed to be in a group as they say their goodbye's to the bar tender; who's drying rinsed glasses.

Mello spots Light standing at the door when he'd stepped aside to let the men out; when Light returned his gaze, the blond used the foot to the leg that wasn't propped up on the round table to shove the seat infront of him out. Taking the offer, Light passes by other tables decorated with a bowl of beer nuts, some have pretzels mixed with them from the person that sat there before and combined the two snacks together. The journalist also noted a faint whiff of urine somewhere in the otherwise spotless looking room: polished wood floor, clean tables, and the bar shined like brand new.

"Thanks. I have to wait here for someone."

"Mm." Was the male's response since he was taking a swig of beer from the bottle. "You ever catch up with Mr. Good Fuck?"

"His name is Mikami, but no, I didn't get a chance to see him."

"He stayed out all night? He must have caught wind that you came or something." Mello snickers. "Never knew a guy, without a night job, to avoid going home. What'd you do to him?"

'That's what I'd like to know.' Thinks Light while casting a bitter gaze at the male. He seems a little less brash then before, but he's still rude. His attire is different but that went without saying; he probably owns a bike, judging by the leather gloves covering his hands, thick boots cover his feet and he's wearing a deep red, sleeveless vest with a collar that zips. If the male were wearing leather pants, Light was sure that he'd laugh out loud at how elementary school matching assessories went with some people. Its not like wearing a suit with a tie, its just a lot of unwanted junk on your body. But Mello, is wearing black jeans.

Reminded of something, Light comments. "Don't you think you'll be cold? It snowed the other day, in Old Silent Hill; you must have seen it."

Mello seemed to withdraw a bit hearing that, but then returned to casually sipping his drink. "I saw it. Not cold is it?" He almost seemed to smile about that.

Now that Light thought about it, no it wasn't cold. But then snow is never really all that cold when it first starts to come down, the temperature hasn't reached the ground yet, just the effect. "Did you see Mikami, by the way?" He wonders after sitting silently with the man for ten minutes.

"What does he look like again?" He set his drink down to pull his hair into a ponytail with a band he produced from his pocket.

"Long black hair, and thick, black framed glasses- he also has brown eyes and is kind of on the pale side."

Mello shakes his head. "I've been here since five and I haven't seen anyone like that walk in- hey Sheffield, did you see anyone walk in here today? Pale, long black hair, wears thick framed glasses with brown eyes? Might look like he's been waiting for someone."

The bar tender thinks about the description then shakes his head. "Can't say I have."

A few more people leave the bar as seven approaches. They have to get home since most of them live in the apartment buildings.

"Sorry." Mello shrugs looking at the clock. "I gotta get home, you should go too if you know what's good for you."

"Excuse me?"

"Mikami isn't going to show up, Light. He won't get here in time." Dropping his leg from the table gracefully, though, it landed like it weighed a ton, Mello stands from the table. "Come back to my place for right now, its safer."

"I'm only twenty minutes away from Woodside, and I've got a car, I'll be fine."

"Trust me, you'll want to come with me tonight." He heads for the door.

Unsure of what the man meant, Light gets up from the table. Going to the bar, he asks the man to keep an eye out for Mikami, but the bar tender said that he was closing as soon as the two of them leave. Mello's seated on a red motorcycle, helmet placed over his head. He waves Light over, but he shakes his head, pointing down the road.

"Well speed it up! We gotta go!" He shouts from behind his helmet.

Light was sure the man was just shouting for sake, though. He walks down a ways to get to L's SUV. He promised to take care of the car, sort of, so it was best to keep it with him. Starting the engine, he pulls out of his spot; Mello waited long enough to ensure that the man was coming down the street after him then he speeds away down the road. It remained light out, darkness settled in sometime during eight. Light turned on the headlights, half expecting to see the creatures somewhere on the road, but it remained clear. Was this Mello's doing? He was sure that they were out early yesterday but then his sense of time is severly tipsy since getting here. Turning on the radio he listens to the crackling static wondering if he'll hear Matt's voice again. It was around ten o'clock when the announcements started, but he didn't get to hear much as Mello's bike pulled into a fenced off area before coming to a stop.

The thin male climbed off his bike, holding a hand out in Light's direction silently telling him to hold on for a moment. By the headlights he can see that Mello has a gun in his hands. He hoped the man was just paranoid and not planning on double crossing him by shooting through the windshield or something; but Mello disappeared around the back of his home, six minutes later he came out through the front door waving Light in. The car wheels slowly forwards and the gate closed loudly behind it.

...

"Its a precaution." He says to Light while rummaging through his fridge. "You hungry?"

"Sure." He takes a seat on the couch. Looking around the room, he notes that the place is almost a small shack. There's no way Mello lives at the dump. Although, the smell wasn't bothering him as he thought it would, the sacks of trash must really be sealed off well, the only scent in the air is of a faint burning. His gaze falls to his lap as something is thrown onto it. Blinking down at it, Light picks it up with questioning looks. "Maybe something with a little more substance." He requests, setting the Hershey bar down on the coffe table, only to have a Snickers thrown into his lap seconds after he's straightened up. "Gee thanks. Does everyone around here have some sort of sweets fetish?" He sets the other candy bar down. He could wait until morning to eat.

Ignorning the words, he asks. "Do you have protection, Light?" Mello is standing by a small closet now, reaching inside.

Light made a thoughtful sound unsure of what Mello meant.

"Here. I have plenty, you can take two." He tosses two guns beside the man onto the couch. One a black Beretta the other has a black handle with a silver barrel.

"That's a 92SF and a 92SB." He sits on a chair beside the couch. "They're the easiest to use as far as reloading and firing."

In awe of the weapons, Light shakes his head over the idea of having to use them.

"What?"

"Civilians aren't supposed to carry firearms, that's for the police to worry about."

Mello scoffed. "And where are the police when you're being attacked by rabid dogs, cats, birds, and the goddamned squirrels, huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Spare me. Matt said he saw you out on the road yesterday night, from the city security cameras, and you looked like you were in trouble."

"Yeah, I looked like I was in trouble, but in reality I think I was just driving through exhaustion." There was no way those things were real! Mello can't honestly be telling him that.

"What? You look at me like I shit in your mouth or something, you saw them right?"

Light wasn't going to admit to anything. Mello only sniffed at his refuse. He could use protection, though, incase something bad were to happen. The sound of a flame sparking to life caught the journalist attention; Mello was lighting what looked to be a joint. After taking two hard puffs he holds it out to him, but Light waves it away.

'Hn. I'm getting advice from a stoner with guns; there's a stupid idea waiting to happen.' He picks up the guns.

Watching, Mello blows out a long held puff through his nose. "Come on," He sits the white roll between his lips. "I'll show you how to use them." He stands walking outside.

Light was hesitant, but then again he can't be too certain about anything in this town so its better just to go along with the locals.

The two are now outside; Light with the SF in hand, Mello beside him holding his aim steady. "Go for that bag over there." He points.

Light shakes his head from the smoke visible sentence the man said to him. He's never smelled a scent like that before, and its giving him a mild headache, hardly the proper state of being to use guns, but before he can object Mello assists him in squeezing the trigger. A loud bang went off from the gun, the bullet splinted through the plastic bag easily.

"Good job. Try one on your own now." He shrinks away into the background.

"Alright." Taking aim, his vision through a tiny slit on the top, Light squeezes the trigger. It shot the same bag but a little further down from the center. A surge of adrenaline coursed through him. "I did it!" He cheered himself. Turning to Mello to see if it were a good shot to him, he sees that the man is gone. "Mel-.." He starts to say but is silenced when something within the pile of bags ruffles them in the windless night...


	4. Leave Out All the Rest

Light wasn't sure of what to do. Run or inspect the sound? He could have shot someone that was hiding among the sacks of strange smelling garbage. Taking a step forward, he swallows cautiously before asking. "Is someone there?" He wonders who would hide in a pile of garbage, but then again not many places in the world are as strange as Silent Hill. The closer Light walks to the stacks, the harder his heart beats in his chest. If he had hit someone, wouldn't they be making sounds of pain? His breathing went from even to stuttered when he was a mere foot away from the pile. Stopping right before the pile of black, Light reaches out a hand, grabbing a bag to slide away. Again he asks. "Is someone in there?" He then adds. "Are you hurt?"

The bag moves forward as he pulls with his one hand while he clutches the gun steady in his other. Like Mello said, the animals behave strangely here and he doesn't want to have his face torn off by some squirrel or have his neck bitten through by a dog. With a grunt of exertion he pulls the bag completely free; two more tumble down off the pile with it falling at his feet.

"Is someone in there." He asks again with a firmer tone.

His hand comes out for another bag; a charcoal colored hand shoots from the very bag he's aiming for and before Light can retract his hand its grabbed at the wrist.

"Aaah!" He cries out. The hand is burning hot! Almost like its on fire and the grip itself possesses the burn, having harnessed it to one spot. Light grunts and struggles within the grasp to free his wrist but its no use, to make it worse whomever is hiding within the garbage wall is pulling him in! 'Think, Light! Think!' Having forgotten about the gun, in his other hand, during the struggle; he aims it at the persons' forearm before firing off three shots into it.

The hand released its grip, the arm recoiling back into the shadows, but now the bags at his feet have sprouted arms with grabbing hands reaching and pawing at his ankles and calves. A startled sound escapes him as he backs away stumbling to his butt on the ground. Scrambling backward, unable to find his footing yet, Light takes aim firing the gun again; this time six shots go off warding off the hands invading touch.

_'What the hell are those things?'_ He gets to his hands and knees before standing to take in the horror that all the bags, hundreds of bags, are now moving and shaking from what's hiding within them. He doesn't have enough ammo for all of them! Turning on his heels he runs towards the shack. "Oof!" A muffled cry shoots from his mouth as he's heavily pushed back by something large and black slamming into his chest. His back smacked against the sacks of trash, his body too weak from impact to move just yet.

Large black wings flap loudly overhead before the thing being flown by them lands atop the shack; its 7' ft. frame shrinks down to a 4'9" when it crouches. In pain, Light winks an eye open to look out ahead of him. Its that same figure from the forest in the outskirts! Its cruel, glowing eyes watch him, an impish smile spread across its face. The creature points a finger out at him, then in a husky voice it says.

"Youuu will diie."

_'What the hell is that thing? A shinigami? It can't be, they don't exist.'_

"We take the lives of the humans stupid enough to venture here, and we feast on the immortality they give our souls." The creature licks its long blue lips. "Interrupt this and I will eat your soul now."

Mustering up some strength, he takes aim at the beast then fires. Its no good, they only bounce off causing the creature to laugh haughtily; the chains and little attachments on its clothing jingle from the movement. Stunned, Light's attention is brought back to the previous danger from the things living in the bags of trash, as something pokes him in the back between his shoulder blades before the hand could spring free to grab at him. Another two are on his legs, and a third reaches for his neck. Beating at the arm around his neck with the gun, not about to take a shot with something that close to him, Light gets no relief from the strangle hold.

_'Dammit!'_ Moving the arm up just enough he chomps into it feeling the flames inside heat his mouth and burn the tip of his withdrawing tongue.

A deep groan came from the owner of the arm before it removed itself; Light wriggles and writhes against the attack to get away and when he finally pulls free he turns to shoot, but something invisible comes into contact with his jaw knocking him to one knee, before he falls flat on his back after being kicked in the stomach. The menacing laughter from the Shinigami continues as its sharp eyes keep a strong gaze on the assault. Light's arms get pinned at the sides of his head, legs stilled by weight being held on them. The charred creatures in the bag grow more excited, their hands grapple at the dirt to pull themselves forward towards their prey.

_'I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die!'_ Light's eyes widen in horror at the thought of meeting his end in this place, and in this way.

Sayu, his mother and father... they'll never know what happened to him- worse- they'll come here looking and end up the same way. That can't happen. It won't happen! Knocking the obstruction to the ground he gets to his feet quickly running for the shack. The sound of rustling bags fills the air, and a strange high pitched gargle, like music from a broken jack-in-the-box. Reaching the shack he dashes inside, slamming the door, he places a large plank before it; the board rests on hooks sticking out of the door. Light hoped it was enough to keep them back. That Shinigami on the roof could easily get in, he'd bet. Surely one of Mello's many guns might have some effect on the thing since the handgun didn't even scare it enough to force it to move from where it had perched.

The odd sounds grew louder as the fleet of crawling bags approach the shack. Looking out the window, Light caught a ragged breath seeing the bags slip and rip away from the, once invisible, crowd revealing charred, contorting, things that look a lot like people. But there is no way those blood thirsty things are people.

_'Snap out of it and get another gun.'_ He orders himself. Moving to the small closet in the back of the room, he pulls it open seeing that all the guns are gone! _'Did Mello take them?'_ He wonders. Utter panic shakes his soul when he hears the wooden door take a pounding from one of the things reaching it, then another and another, all banging and succeeding to cause considerable damage to the door that's groaning and creaking as its bent in. _'It can't end like this... I have to get away.'_

The window seemed to be his best option. Sliding it up it gave a hard pop against the top frame, sticking in place. Light knocks the screen out easily with a kick and quickly, he climbs out the window.

..*..*..*..

Head down, eyes fixated on the tiny screen of the PSP, Matt Jeevas, age 20, is in Heaven with his new video game. Doing his usual round of graffiti in the old town got boring and when he went to the convenience store to replenish his favorite pack of cigarettes he found a few dollars left behind by some Light Yagami. Either way the money was enough for him to finally get his hands on the new Outbreak that came out last month. He had been saving up for it since he saw the first commercial 3 months back, but when it comes to making cash its not easy. All the jobs are either heavily taken or someone wants you to do some freaky shit in order to earn a buck. It was weird though, because for some reason, every time he earned close to 60 bucks doing jobs he would wake up one day- always when he's just short a few more dollars, and the money will be missing. He'd borrow from someone but he can never explain to them why their money is missing and yet no product has been produced from Matt's spending it, at which point he would tell the person, if the money is gone technically it wasn't spent so he felt he didn't have to pay them back. Let's just say he owes Mello a lot of money.

Which is how he took up the job of doing nightly announcements in Central; some poor fool always goes out after curfew and they always end up having to be directed to a safe spot to avoid their own madness. Matt has seen a lot of people, seemingly normal people, walk around the town but when night falls they just lose their minds with fright and start acting strangely, almost like they're being attacked by something. He's never once seen this force that's out to get people. Mental cases.

"Shit." He moans; cigarette bobbing up and down between his lips as he speaks to himself. "Damn zombies always manage to get me at this part." He looks up when hearing the loud sound of the garbage truck, waving a hand to the driver. Just as his vision is about to return to his beloved new game he spots movement in a car just across the street from where he's standing. Pausing the, reset, game he looks ahead to be sure he saw what he saw. Yup, someone's there alright. Pressing his back from the brick wall he'd just brought to life with color and picture, he crosses the street to the car.

A leg came up before the owner of it managed to get himself seated upright. He looked like he'd seen a damned ghost, or maybe a hundred ghost with the spooked expression on his face and the fear in his eyes. But then again, with the madness that takes over people from being outside at night, he guessed he couldn't blame him. Unpausing the game he turns it off then leans over to knock on the window of the car. "You need some help?" He asks. The man in the car looked confused and uncertain of what to do. Maybe he didn't hear him. So he asks instead. "You lost?" Still no answer of any kind, causing Matt to mutter. "Are you just an idiot that thinks he's hearing things?"

That earned him a glare from the man before the door to the front of the car is popped open for him. Grinning, he opens the door climbing inside. Shoving his hand out towards the backseat, he says in a non-threatening, cheerful tone. "I'm Matt Jeevas-well- to be fair my name is Mail; I sort of gave myself the name because, you know, I'm a tour guide and sort of a welcoming 'matt'." He waits for the man to laugh but gets nothing aside from.

"Light Yagami."

Hearing the name his mouth drops into a smile. "Thought I recognized you once I got in here, you're the guy I saw on the road before."

"Matt?" He sobers up feeling the threat of yesterday dying away. It was clearly a weird dream, though, how he'd ended up in this car will forever be a mystery to him. "You're the guy from the radio!"

"That's me." Holding up the handheld, he says with a very appreciative tone. "Thanks for the new game."

"What?"

"I found the money you left at the convenience store and decided to take it and, because of you, I got to get my new game. So thanks."

"You stole my money?" Light's thin brow twitched in irritation.

Matt shrugs. "It would have just sat there!" He says in his defense. "Nobody goes to that store anymore; you have to have noticed by now, this place is empty."

"You're here, as well as, a young boy and his family."

"You must mean, Near." Reaching with his index extended he touches the scar on the male's neck. "How'd you get this?"

Light reaches up a hand for his neck, looking just as shocked as the person casting the look at him.

"And what the hell happened to your wrist?" He grabs one turning it around in his grasp. "Looks like you've been burned." Noticing the man's face he adds. "And beaten up. Are you alright?"

Snatching his wrist free, Light looks at the dark hand prints burned into his skin. How can they be there, he was dreaming. He can't even remember getting into this car, so how could the rest of it have been real? Small bits and pieces of what happened last night pass through his blurred memory but nothing is coming in particularly clear. _'Did I do this to myself without knowing it?'_

"I can give you a ride to the hospital if you wanna get those treated; you know, an unwatched burn will spread deeper into your skin until it breaks."

Light cocked a brow to that comment.

Holding up his game, he explains. "You ever torch a zombie with a burning bottle of alcohol? One minute they're still coming at you then- poof- they drop off." Seeing the look on the strangers face makes him laugh. No one ever understands a gamer.

"I'll go to the hospital, but can you take me someplace afterwards?" He watches as Matt bends down from the passangers seat to the front to hot-wire the car.

"Sure, where are you heading?" After an affirmed snicker when the engine hums, the gamer sits up scooting over to the driver's side of the car.

"The dump- are you sure that's alright?"

"Like I said, this place has been abandoned- never to be filled with people again."

"Because of the broken streets?" Light doesn't bother with a seatbelt but he adjust his sitting position so that he's no longer laying sideways. "Why not just have them fixed?"

Matt shrugs. "Who cares, they moved everyone to Central, anyway- safer- a lot of gangs come here to deal drugs."

_'That explains why they keep the brigde up then. Why would a gang come to sell drugs in a broken town?'_ Answering his own question he thinks. _'Obviously because there are no cops.'_

They sit in silence for a little while until Matt asks. "So what brings you to our lovely resort town of Silent Hill. Is it the famous amusement park? Our wonderful spa, the resort where all your comforting needs are met, the-..."

Cutting the tour guide off, Light says. "I came here looking for someone named, Teru Mikami, he used to live in this town but he moved and now lives in the outskirts."

"Mhm." Matt turns the car on the road out of the town, honking the horn when he sees the bridge coming up.

"Anyway, I haven't even seen Mikami since I got here. I'm starting to think that coming was a huge mistake."

"Nooo, stay. He'll come around, although, you've only got four days- you know that right?"

"Everyone keeps saying thing like that; what the hell is it supposed to mean?"

The car is stilled while waiting for the bridge to go down and let them into Central.

"Its a tourist attraction, tell a guy the date is coming" He waves his hand through the air as if creating the scene before Light's eyes. "the beginning of the eeeend. They love it."

"Well I think its sick."

Matt found that funny as he laughed before pressing the gas to move them forward.

"Its not funny. There's something weird going on in this town, and I've decided that I'm not gonna leave until I can figure it out. A story like this will be huge."

"Yeah, and think of all the cash that will come in when people come around to see if its true." Actually hearing what the man had said, he asks. "What do you mean by weird things? I've never seen anything and I've lived here my whole life. Although, I get high often, so even if I did see something it'd have to be a write-off." He laughs loudly.

Light makes an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. He didn't feel like being messed with after the night he's had. 'That shinigami mentioned something about taking humans souls when they come to this place. Could that be true?' Shaking his head lightly, he says to Matt. "Nevermind, you wouldn't believe me, trust me."

Looking into the rearview mirror at his passanger, Matt shakes his head. "Just one little thing." He makes a gesture with his hand by shrinking his index to his thumb to show the amount of 'little thing' he means.

"Alright... my first day here I thought that I had hit someone with my car but when I went to look at it... " He tries to visualize the thing he'd seen days ago. "I couldn't even make out what it was."

"That bad? You haven't reported it to the police."

"I just wanted to get to the apartment, I didn't think about calling the police, besides, it wasn't my hitting it that killed it."

"Who would sling a dead body out onto the street?" Matt wonders to himself.

"I did see someone hiding out in the woods, but like I said, I just wanted to get to the apartment."

"Could have been, Mel', he sees all kinds of shit. Gangs don't just sell drugs, you know, its likely that they kill guys and hide the bodies around."

The car is parked. The two get out.

"So have you ever come across anything like that? You said you lived here your whole life."

Leaning his forearms over the hood of the car, he smiles at the man; eyes shaded in the sunlight reflecting off his goggles. "Yeah but I never go out after curfew- well, at least not until I took my sweet paying job as the night announcer. But I remain in the police station until I can go home, its nice and comfy there."

"Exactly! You must have seen me in the monitor because you told me where to find shelter."

"Yeah, but if you were seeing something, I sure as hell didn't. You looked like you were going insane- trying to flip your car maybe. Anyway, people usually calm down when you tell them certain places to go. And the rest of the town doesn't like to talk about it." He shrugs, following Light when the male starts for the building. "But you know who knows a shit load about this town?" Not giving Light a chance to answer, he finishes his thought. "That kid, Near."

"Near?" He walks through the held open door.

"Yeah, but can I ask why its such a big deal to tell the world about this place? What's it to you that a town has weird habits? You don't live here."

"I'm a reporter- well, journalist, and honestly, I think this town will be better off if someone knew about it." He shrugs a hand. "People will come to help repair the broken roads, get mental help for all the paranoid people here in Central and the outskirts, get some outside help to stop the gang activity, and maybe once the old town has been fixed people will move back in."

Brows raised practically to his hairline in bewilderment, Matt laughs. "That's stupid- but then, I can be a bit of a sinic and a dream crusher, so do what you gotta do. Wait here." He heads away to the counter to see about Light getting some treatment. He has no plans for the day so babysitting a stranger isn't exactly taking up his time in anyway. But he likes to have things done quickly.

_'So to find out what's going on, I have to talk to Near. How would a young boy know; he did say that he'd moved into Mikami's home after he moved out, which means he would be willing to talk if he knows anything; the rest of this town lives under some unspoken law to keep their mouths shut. But I'll bet they're dying to say something to someone- like that guy at the diner, Matsuda. I know about Beyond, but what about the rest... Hopefully, Near will have answers.'_

A nurse: pretty face, black hair in a tight bun, pale skin, and shapely legs, walks into the waiting room. "Light Yagami? Come with me, please."

Standing he follows the woman into a room; behind him he hears Matt say that he'll wait for him in the lobby since he has to give him a ride. Light notes the time, unaware that it was so late in the afternoon. He hoped this went quickly, last thing he wanted was another night outside in this place. He's seen enough horror to last him a lifetime and once he speaks to Near, he'll return to Woodside and wait out Mikami so then he can finally talk to him and take him home.

...

The two men are through with the hospital and are now on their way to the dump. Nurse Kiyomi, he found out her name was, said that she had never seen anything like it; bruises with no pain and yet they're very serious. She placed cream on his wrist wrapping it, and gave him a bandage for around his neck incase it gave him any pain, the cuts and bruises on his face, though, did hurt very much as she cleaned them up; dabbing blood from his mouth and the side of his eye before placing a bandage on them as well. Luckily, none of them were deep enough to need stitches. Light just did not understand how something as minor as a split lip and busted eyebrow could hurt over having a scar on his neck or a burn on his wrist. Its only proof that he is dreaming and possibly the cause of those strange injuries. Its odd, though, because he's never been one to sleep walk or day dream hard enough to accidently fall asleep in it.

The gate to the dump is open; the location he was in only last night looks no different from when he and Mello had arrived. There are no fallen or ripped bags, no shinigami, no invisible man- not that he would see him if there were, but you know what he means. Just the plain old dumpsite.

_'I wonder if Mello is inside?'_ He spots L's car just off to the right. Turning his gaze back forward he watches the cabin door open as a very ticked off looking Mello stroles over to it.

He thought that Matt was going to run the male down, driving in with no sign of stopping until Mello's legs were a hair away from the bumper of the car. Impishly smirking, he says to Light. "Remember, we parked in front of the angry stump."

Light would have been amused if he weren't so concerned about the bruise on said stumps eye. Getting out of the car, he closes the door. "Mello, what happened to you?" He expected to hear the man say something along the lines of what he'd been through but what he didn't expect to hear was...

"What do you think happened to me? One minute you're standing there shooting at crap then you fucking turn on me with it."

"What?"

"You almost shot me you asshole! Then you elbowed me while shrieking like a lunatic!" He whips out a gun aiming it at the older man only to be held back by his friend. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now."

"Whoooa there, Mel'." He tries to calm him down. "You wouldn't wanna do something stupid like that."

"I almost shot you? Where the hell did you even go last night?" Its Light's turn to be angry now. How could Mello accuse him of nearly shooting him when he'd flat out disappeared?

"What?"

"I turned around and you were just gone. The next thing I know I'm being attacked by garbage monsters." He heard himself say it wishing that he hadn't the moment the words left his mouth.

Both Mello and Matt stilled at the words for a moment, then hunched over in a fit of laughter.

"Garbage monsters!" Matt repeats. "Did they stink? Did one..." His words are cut off by laughter. "did one have a tomato in its ear?"

Mello laughed but not as hard as Matt, in fact, he seemed to exchange an odd look with Light over the matter.

_'He knows something.'_ Thinks the male. As a reporter he sees a lot of expressions and the one Mello is sporting is a look better described as an understading being covered by a want not to believe.

"Doesn't matter anyway." The garbage man ends up saying. Holding out the gun that Light had dropped last night, he hands it back to the male. "Keep it, you may need it. Just make sure you know who you're shooting at next time."

"I will."

Watching the exchange, Matt rolls his eyes, whipping out his handheld to get back to his game. He'd done his part, and since his fun in the old town is over with he may as well hang out with Mello for the day.

"Where are you headed now?" Asks the blond.

"Old town, I have to ask Near something." He looks over at L's car once again, glad that its still in working condition. L would kill him if his car ended up like the rental. He really should get another one and soon. "Where are the car rental places around here?" He asks, to them, what seems out of the blue.

"Central." Mello replies. "Matt, take him there."

Having heard his name, sort of, it came in more as 'Att' since he was half in, half out of the conversation. "Wha-..? Why me? You're not doing anything."

"I'm not babysitting the new guy all day. Besides, a tour guide can't bitch when he finally gets some work." Shoving the gamer on the back, he adds. "Now go."

"Alright, alright." Saving his game once again, he stuffs it into one of the large pockets on his hoody, zipping it up once its inside. "Come on."

"Thanks." Heading towards L's car, he climbs inside starting the engine; waiting for Matt to leave first so he can follow. He spots the two having a brief discussion before the brunet, whose hair could look red in the right lighting, gives the blond a kiss on the lips before walking to his car. Mello cast him a bitter glance before turning around to head back into the shack. Oddly enough, the act made him ache for L's nearness rather than Mikami's. The man is beyond strange, but his presence is really comforting. Maybe it isn't so much Mikami he misses but the feeling of having someone other than himself to be around. He can be a bit of a tightwad, workaholic, and very anti-social most days. Besides, He hasn't seen Mikami since the man had left him 3 years ago, and then to leave him hanging at the bar, although, there's a chance that he had missed him but- dammit, why would Mikami see him sleeping in his home, leave, then ask that he meet him somewhere? It seemed that Mikami was playing games with him, that he really doesn't wanna see him, and that Light came at all is nothing more than a big joke. He can't cat-and-mouse forever, though. He has to get back to Japan and out of this crazy town.

...

By the time they got to the rental dealership it was three o'clock. Light chose a larger car like L's in order to feel safer when driving around. Though, if he needed to run something down speed might be a handycap in a car like this but at least the force will be felt. The trouble now is getting the other car back to the apartment without wasting daylight. If he hurries he can get it there.

"Matt, will you stay here and wait for me? I have to drop this car off."

"Why not just call the guy who owns it. He can take a bus to get here."

Light hadn't thought of that. Do you have a cell? I left mine at the apartment."

Matt digs in his pocket for the phone handing it to the journalist.

"Thank you." He's about to press the number when he realized. "I don't know L's number." He says to himself.

"How do you not know the number to a guy whose car you borrowed?" Matt takes his phone back. "What's the name, I'll call the operator."

"Lawliet Elliot."

Waiting for Matt to hand him the phone, he looks around the area; his journalistic eyes catching everything they can see. Mental pictures of locations being taken. Everyone here seems so at peace its almost fake. Like you could only dream about a place like this, but the moment you talk to someone they're suddenly sent into panic mode over something. Did Beyond really instill all this? One man killing so many people, it must have been terrifying, sure, but he's dead. To still be this freaked out is insane.

"Here you go."

Taking the phone he holds it to his ear. "L?"

"Light?" He can almost hear the smile in the man's bored tone. "How did you get my number, I'm not listed."

"Operator. Listen, I have something to do in the old town so I'm giving your car back."

"You no longer need it?"

"I got another rental. I can't drive yours back to you without losing daylight, so will you come get it? I'm in Central at a rental dealership called..." He looks around for the name. "Cree-motors."

"As if I have a choice." The man is silent a moment. "You owe me a dinner, though."

"What?"

"You're in Central, right?" L takes in a breath before speaking the next one. "That's a way out of my way. I think you owe me a nice dinner as payment."

A slight laugh escapes the male's mouth. "You won't let up on it until I say, alright."

A smirk spreads across Matt's eavesdropping face.

"No." Flat answer.

"Alright, I'll take you out for a nice dinner. I have to go now, bye."

"Take care."

Rolling his honey colored eyes, Light says. "Stop looking at me like that, he's just a friend."

"Oh sure. I'll bet this Mikami won't see it that way." He starts for his car.

"Its the truth."

"Hey, I'm not judging you- stinging more flowers just gets you more honey." He shrugs. "Although, with guys like Mello you hit the hive." He laughs before getting into his car.

Climbing into his new rental, Light starts the car following after Matt. _'Mikami...'_ He lets out a frustrated sigh. _'You're not going to become just some flower.'_ He thinks using the stoned gamer's reference. _'We'll be reunited and get out of here together. I can't see leaving without you.'_

The two arrive in the old town sooner than planned; unfortunately, Near was not at home.

"Its cool, Light. We can wait it out in one of the houses for him." Waving him over, Matt crosses the street to a home just one down from Near's. Kneeling, he picks the lock easily; giving Light a thumbs up at his own handy work before going inside.

"I won't even ask if this is alright," He drops his exhausted weight down on a couch. "I didn't realize how tired I was until now, or how hungry."

"I can make you something. You like cheese burgers?" He opens the fridge to look through it. "No beef, how 'bout some shrimp pasta?"

"How old is that stuff anyway?" He has to ask. If this town has been abandoned he doubted anything in it is edible.

"I got it yesterday." Replies Matt. "Chicken bites and veggies?" He's naming off options that range from chicken pasta, to some form of chicken nuggets, to chicken parmasan- either way, chicken seems to be set in stone as the main dish.

"You got it?" Light hears. "You stayed here overnight? Why did you pick the lock on the door then?"

"I was faking- had you fooled, though."

Light's brow twitched again. Between the death glare and strange personality that is L and Matt both men could bring any solid person to their knees with exhaustion of too much of them. 'Mello must be a saint to actually love the guy.' Although, seeing Mello's all around paranoid behavior, he can't really give him too much credit. Not that this place isn't making him feel like a complete basket case most of the time.

"I'll eat whatever." He turns in the seat a bit to look out the window and wait for Near's return. He hoped the kid wouldn't be gone for long. He didn't dare cross the streets at night, like Mello said, this place isn't exactly Heaven when the sun goes down.

Matt begun to hum as he prepared their meal; a cigarette hanging from his lips. Light didn't even notice that the male had taken it out until the light scent caught up to his nose only to be erased by the entoxicating scent of chicken with some kind of herb.

"That smells really good."

"Thanks." He turns the chicken with a pair of tongs. "You may not know it to look at me but, I don't burn food."

Light snickers at that. Nevermind, "I'm a master chef" or "great in the kitchen", simply "I don't burn food" and the kid is good. Removing the curtain across the window, the journalist asks. "How long have you known Mello?"

"Uuuh, about a year and half."

"That's all?"

"Match-made, right? You'd think we grew up together, but naah. Mel' doesn't even live in this town. He lives in the next city over. He stays at the dump until the end of the week then he goes home. Hn. Guy comes back perfectly normal but around the end of the week he starts to get paranoid." He shrugs. He removes the nicotine fix blowing out a cloud.

Mello wasn't smoking cigarette's he was smoking something a lot stronger. Could the smoke have made him confused. He knows that stoners often hallusinate- Matt even said so- maybe he dreamt up the whole thing and had actually been attacking Mello as the man had said?

_'I could have killed him... I really shouldn't have a gun with me if I'm that easily influenced.'_ Thinks the male.

"Done. Hope you don't mind cig' ash." He holds up the pan.


	5. A Profitable Conversation

Matt stretches out his limbs: arms in the air, legs extended straight, mouth open as his back comes to an arch. Dinner was fantastic, he really outdid himself that time. But, the company could use some work. Dropping his arms behind his head he looks over to said company with a bored expression. Light's been staring out the window since finishing his meal, waiting on that kid Near. He really doesn't understand his fascination with this place, but then again, people don't understand his love of video games so he can't really let himself be a hypocrite.

"Hey, Light? Do you really think that Mikami will go back to Japan with you? Its pretty hard to leave this place, you know."

"That's funny, because every day I stay here I can't feel anything other than a desperate urge to flee."

Matt cocked a brow at that. What's so wrong with living here? "What time is it?" He asks deciding to change subjects. Sure this place isn't exactly Vegas or Europe but he doesn't take well to ill speak of his hometown.

"Six."

"Mmm. Well, you don't need me anymore, do you?" His mind has been drifting back and forth to the blond since Light decided staring out the window was more entertaining than small talk.

"Yes."

A little moved at how quickly the male answered, Matt has to ask. "Why? You can wait here alone- unless, of course, you don't think you're safe from the bogey men out there." He wriggles his fingers teasingly.

"Its not funny, there really is something out there." He turns on the couch he's kneeling on to sit down and face the male. "Hasn't Mello ever said anything to you about it?"

"What does Mello, know?" He seemed offended, almost jealous that this stranger could speak as if he and Mello had a secret together.

"It was how he looked at me when I mentioned seeing something."

"That could have meant anything. You sound crazy, if Mello ever did say anything to me, I might have only been half listening" A smirk crosses his once hardened features. "I tend to zone out a lot. But," He shrugs. "you know, there's also the thing that I need visual before I believe something as far out as insane animals. I've never so much as been assaulted by a squirrel and they naturally look like they're ready to snap. But monsters?" He snickers a bit.

Light glares at the male. If he knows about the unstable animals then Mello had said something to him. He hated it when people didn't listen, or listen in a closed off way. "Pick on me all you want, but one of these nights I'll get proof of it." He defends his sanity by thinking of his camera left in his suitcase at Mikami's apartment.

He'll take as many pictures as he can from the safety of... a car or even this house. But he will get what he needs before he heads home. Thinking logically, now that he's got food in his stomach, Light is pretty sure that the cause of the animals being unstable might have something to do with pollution. The lake water was very murky and as Matt said, this place is over-run by negative activity, so who only knows what's really going on underneath Silent Hill. Or starvation if they're roaming the streets with no real meals given to them aside from scraps of food tossed into the trash. How could they not turn to cannibalism? But those other things, the ones with no heads, hands, or feet. What are they? Hallucinations of his own hunger, possibly his blindness to anything other than seeing Mikami again. So many questions that can't be answered by staying here, and yet by not staying a lot of it will remain a mystery. That little song L sang, again, plays through his mind.

It was around seven fifteen when the street lights came on, and it began to snow. Matt was becoming less talkative as his attention focused on his handheld as he plays a game bought with some of Light's money.

_'At least he isn't calling me crazy anymore.'_ Thinks Light. Keeping his eyes out the window he spots a dog dart by, its heading into a bush.

He had to admit that he was more than tempted to go out there; if only to see what Mello was talking about when he'd said that there is something wrong with the animals, and to possibly show Matt that he isn't off-base with his accusations about this place. But he knew better than to do something like that; even with two guns under his belt he didn't feel confident enough shooting at anything after what Mello had said. Imagine if he'd killed the man! He never would have forgiven himself for taking a human life. Said dog is now wildly tossing its head back and forth as its teeth hold tight to what seems to be another dog- or some of it since it only looks like enough to be a head. It seemed to be satisfied with its find because, rather than enjoying it where it is, the dog clamps down into it then prances away down the street.

"That's Near, I'm going across the street." Light says to Matt, standing. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Matt didn't seem to hear him at all.

Light thought about leaving a note, but the sound of a closing car door brought him back to the task at hand. Unlocking the door, Light heads outside closing the door after him. Walking down the 4 stairs of the porch, he scans the area with his eyes before hurrying across the street to Near's. The door closed just as he'd hit the sidewalk. Light hadn't even ran that long or hard and he felt his lungs giving him signals as if they're desperate for air. Stopping before the door, he catches his lost breath while raising a hand and knocking on the door.

"Near! It's Light! I need to talk to you!" He calls through the door. His head turns at the sound of a barking dog off in the distance.

The door crept open slowly, as if someone were only intending to peek out at him rather than allow him in, but it opened to the full view of the entrance and a tall, trim, very pristine elderly man stands before the entry way.

"May I help you?"

"I need to speak to Near. Can I come in?"

The man nods, stepping away from the door he closes it once the guest walks past.

"Right this way."

He walks through the, finely decorated, living room: A thick carpet on the floor, couches set around a coffee table as if the occupants of the home would have a meeting there rather than a casual sit; Light can just barely make things out since there are no lights on in the home. They make their way into the hallway, passing one door and another until reaching the end. Turning the knob on the door to the left bedroom, he gestures for Light to go in.

The journalists insides felt twitchy all of a sudden, but he schooled it away. Its just strange, not the part where Near lives with an old man, he's probably the albino childs grandfather or something, but the fact that even in the broad daylight- when they'd first met- the home seems to be very dark and foreboding. The door closed behind him, startling Light a bit. His jumpy nerves never cease to fail at embarrassing him. He'll, honestly, never insult skittish foreigners again. A dim light glows in the room, a zebra nightlight with a glowing nose, allowing him to really take in his environment: its a playroom, two toy chest sit at the corners of the furthest wall, stuffed animals are placed in a hammock in the corners where the door is centered, a train set- moving- lines the wall with tracks and beams to keep it up in the air or close to the floor, like a roller coaster going up and dipping down, but out in the center of the room is the most elaborately built lego block town you'd ever see in your life. Not like something a ten or five year old would show you with miss-matched colors and such, but an actual neighborhood with all the correct colors; so much care put into it you'd think that it came this way and the houses are merely snaps with a lego print to fool the naked eye. And inside of this town as if it were a really cool fort, sits Near. He has two lego men on a finger and a woman on a finger of his other hand.

"Near," He says before the boy starts to speak.

"I honestly can't help you until tomorrow." He says in his dead tone. L may speak as if he's bored, but Near speaks as if he's got a corpse rolling around in his throat. "You have to leave."

"Tomorrow? But... I was hoping that you'd speak to me today." Light takes a slight step closer, wishing to not knock into any buildings or cars in the process. There really is a lack of space in this room with all of the other random toys sitting around like they'd been the apple of the boys eye one minute and garbage the next.

In a voice that should have been a woman's but there was no real change, Near then says. "No. It has to be now; Archy could be anywhere by now, what good are the police if they can't look for someone unless they've been missing for twenty four hours?"

Taking in the words, he realized then that Near had not been speaking to him but playing with his toys. Trying again, he asks. "Near, can you hear me? Its, Light, we met three or so days ago. I wanna talk to you about something and Matt said that you'd be the one to ask if I had questions."

Near was silent then after a moment he sighs. "Alright, I'll get a team on it right away." He shakes the woman that's stuck to his finger. "Oh thank you, thank you." Setting the men and woman down, he picks up a plane flying it forward as far as his arm reaches before pulling it back just to send it forward again, as though its stuck on the same course. Doomed to repeat the endless cycle forever.

Seeing that he's clearly being ignored he walks to the door. "Forget it, I'll get my answers elsewhere." His tone is snipped. He can always go to L or Mello, they seem like they know more than they're letting on, maybe he can pursued them to talk somehow.

"I'll help you out."

The door opens and he's about to enter the hall when he hears...

"What do you wanna know? And, yes, Light, this time I'm speaking to you." Near smirks secretly in the dim lighting.

Annoyed, Light closes the door to give them privacy before turning to face the male. Returning to his place before the entrance of the toy town, Light kneels down sitting in the same position as the child, one knee up at his chest the other leg he's seated on. "This kid, Matt Jeevas, he told me that getting attention of this place to outsiders won't help save it from ruin, but I really think that he's wrong. The more people that know about Silent Hill the better the towns chances are for getting this place rebuilt. More homes for people to live in- like it used to be before the streets got torn up and the mafias decided to use it for drug trafficing." He sees that Near is unimpressed, but goes on. "We can also get people to clear up the water in the lake and probably the water towers. Near, you can't mean to tell me that you're happy living isolated like you are."

"Nobody here wants or needs help. You'd only be wasting your time." He's once again playing with his toys only they're not speaking outward but being wagged back and forth by the child to indicate who's speaking.

"Then its my time to waste, but there are things that I need to know."

"Specific questions will get you answers, Light; if I were to just talk about the town then we'd be here all night and a good portion of the next day."

Light is silent, wondering what 'specific questions' would be good to ask. He can ask about that weird guy at the apartment, or those creatures out on the road that he'd seen. Maybe he should ask why the town acts so cheerful and oblivious to the dangers outside. They act so cheerful and happy and he's sure that if he'd mentioned anything to any of those people, much like Matt, they would look at him and talk to him like he's crazy, but then there are cranky people that seem to know what he's talking about and yet they still refuse to talk about it. Or maybe he should ask about that weird dream he had or hallusination. Was it real? the burned people, the Shinigami? Could he have just dreamed them up? But it seemed so real, and his wrist and neck, there is no denying that something happened to him, even the nurse found it puzzling how they look so fresh and yet they don't seem to hurt him, although, that thought took a backseat at the moment because right now they're killing him with an annoying sting and itch. Touching his wrist absently, he swallows when seeing that Near has noticed.

"What's the matter with your wrist? Does this town have you attempting suicide or maybe its burns that you're dealing with."

Light's eyes widen. _'Is this kid really a profit? Or has he gone through it as well?'_ He wonders removing his hand from his stinging wrist.

Smirking in that know-it-all way he had from before, he says. "I take it from your expression that its not the former, then." He concludes the answer to his own question.

Figuring he may as well spill it all to the strange child, who seems unimpressed by everything in the world, Light says quietly. "I had this weird dream- well, it was more like a nightmare, but I was at the dump with a guy named Mello and one minute he and I were talking, next thing I know I'm bei-"

Near cuts into his sentence saying what Light intended to. "-ing attacked by living flames."

"How do you know that?"

"Because, Light" His hands start to undo the buttons on his crisp white shirt until his chest is exposed. Widening the opened buttons he shows Light a very impressive burn patch on his left chest and a bit of his shoulder. "I've been there."

Light's voice catches in his throat at the sight of the burn that mimics his own; Near's words later come in. "Been there? You make it sound as though its a livable place and not in our heads."

Redoing the buttons of his shirt the child adjusts the collar to cover with three jerks up and down before standing, moving to a stuffed lamb that's been laying on the floor beside the train tracks. He's petting the stuffed animal as if it were real, cuddling it like he's trying to keep a baby from crying. Light thought that he was on the verge of being ignored again, but Near kept his mouth closed by again speaking. "The first time I came here was with my family when I was fourteen, four years ago. We were on vacation for rest, relaxation, and quiet from our busy lives in Chicago and the brochure came across as very convincing."

Light's breaths seemed to still in order to listen to the male. What Near's family has to do with it he's unsure, but Near doesn't seem like the type to prattle on about nothing. So he may as well take it all in; Near can later be mentioned in the report he's going to write. A story like this may even be covered on television.

"We stayed in the outskirts in a resort and spa kind of place, they didn't lie about the peace and beauty of the area and the service was excellent, but there was something wrong with the whole picture." He sets the lamb to the floor, leaning over a bit as if to watch his pet eat grass. "Not a single person around us was alive."

You'd of thought that someone came up behind Near with a gun or a large knife in their hands with the frightened and shocked way Light is looking at the male. "W...what?" He hears himself or maybe he only thought he'd said something because the albino child didn't seem to react to it. He spoke at his own pace.

"All the pampering: massages, hand shakes, anything... it all felt hollow. I've always been sensative to spirits but I never knew exactly how my gift functioned into my life, what purpose something like it had, until coming here. That's when it all became clear." Leaving the lamb alone he now looks directly at Light, his index finger comes into a bit of his hair to curl the lock around and around. "The reason for my gift is so that I can guide spirits to the next world; I move around in dreams seeing these people living their final day of existance but instead of letting the soul wander, I tell them what happened and it takes them to the other side."

Light is trying to process what he's being told but his face registers to blank. A dead town... mental abilities. How does any of this exist? "I don't understand."

"You see, Light, we all live our lives then pass on; if such a thing as rebirth exist, the next time that recycled soul is born it will be as someone else- total amnesia- due to seeing a different face in the mirror. But for some their rebirth never happens and they spend their afterlife the way they've always been in their days as living. I call them shocks." He clears up his term before the male can ask a question. "Its because their death was unexpected or sudden and disbelieved, that it goes unprocessed to them and instead of realizing they're dead they go on living as a ghost without ever knowing that anything has happened to them. Most people that are shocks become basket cases, people begin to move into their homes and they believe that they're being haunted; an unknowing mind can't see changes being made around them, they'll hear noises, voices; it drives them mad and they lash out causing the newcomers to be haunted. Some shocks are lucky and get excersized from the home after they've been discovered, others just become residual in their own lives, living routinely, unaware that the day is turning out the same everytime."

Light is positive that if he was breathing then he surely isn't breathing now. His mind is shaking, his heart is pounding so loud, beating so hard its a wonder the room isn't in the middle of an earthquake, and he can taste bile in his throat. _'He's wrong... No, I don't even know what the hell he's getting at!'_ He's thinking but his voice slowly creeps out. "There's just no way!" He shouts into the thick of the room. 'Take it back...' His breaths return, hissing from his mouth to catch itself. "You have to take it back!"

"Taking it back won't change the truth of it, Light." Near stopped the train flipping a little switch. Loading the train with little people he starts it up again, smiling as if he'd been happily playing alone all this time and this very serious conversation is not going on.

"But there's no way what you're saying is the truth!" Does Near even know what it is that he's saying?

"It is the truth, and you wanted your story so you really need to listen." His eyes follow the train's trail around the room until he passes behind Light, then his gaze remains locked in on the male who seems to be slowly shrinking in on himself. His head is shaking, brown hair sweeping across his forehead, arm clenching his knee far too tightly to his chest, the other hand white knuckled on his lower knee.

"What... what does that have to do with the dreams?" He managed to squeeze out.

"This whole town is a shock, old town, Central, the outskirts- every inch."

"Stop it..." His breath wheezes. "st-... stop it!"

"There were four maybe five people here who were truly alive but like myself they got stuck in this town's reset."

Light's eyes widen as it all starts sinking in. "Shocks. Death. The countdown."

"Yes, they're all marking the day the town will reset and claim the new lives that have come into it. The people who come here for rest and relaxation as my family had, all end up dying if they don't listen to the warnings being told to them."

"Four days... I have four days to find Mikami and get out of here- is that what you're telling me?" He can't seem to stop shouting, he's surprised he hasn't crossed the room and knocked the kid out cold. How can he just say things like this to him and not expect him to freak out.

"Since its night, you have three days to free Mikami, and return home."

Light shakes his head to those words. _'Free him? But Mikami can't be... he just can't!'_

"There is a darkness laying over this town, living and breathing, collecting from the outsiders while continuing to feed on the insiders."

All the faces of all the people he's met flash through his mind: Matt, Mello, Matsuda, L... Is Near saying that...

"My family only came here on vacation," He returns to his earlier point. "I had an intense vision when we spent the night in a hotel here in old town because we were visiting the amusement park. In my dream, I saw this towns end... my family left the next day. I came back when I was eighteen and bought an apartment in the outskirts I wanted to be far away from the incident itself and close enough to a neighboring town so that when the reset date came up I could leave and be safe to come back."

_'Mello!'_ Matt's words cross his mind about how paranoid the blond is, and how at the end of the week he always leaves but returns again the next day. _'Mello knows.'_

"I got careless one day and I took a nap to try freeing souls earlier than at night, and I missed my flight. I couldn't get out of the town fast enough and was attacked by these creatures without apendages or heads." Judging by Light's movements he's seen them too. "I'm guessing you don't know where they come from. Only old town and Central are effected by the same reset, but the outskirts have been plagued by something much darker; a man turned murderer named Beyond Birthday."

"I... saw something at the Woodside apartment..."

Near nods. "That was him you saw, and that thing covering his face is a tumor. Its been growing inside of his head since he was a little boy, which is what got him sentenced to an instatution during his first trial and kept him killing after his release."

"So that _was_ L's brother in the hall... he's a monster."

Again Near nods. "The tumor made him crazy and there was no removing it without killing him; around the time it developed there might have been a chance for him to make it, but his family never cared; even if they did have the funds to do it, they wouldn't have."

"L told me about that- how little his family cared for B."

"L?" He said as though he were questioning his memories for all the people he's met. "I remember seeing him on tv defending his brother, he's the one who brought up the condition to the court but the hospital couldn't confirm it as anything other than a lump created by the many beatings on the head he took as a child."

"But the warnings-.." He wonders.

"I put the warnings up, after I got stuck here, I timed the days waiting for it to happen then I posted the warnings up. The town went along with it, they all look at it as something to do with keeping money flowing into a dying resort town but they're also in fear of it. That was a mistake on my part because I didn't think it would happen, its only making the darkness stronger but, it can't be helped. The town's people warn newcomers like yourself and most people leave but others wanna play along and see what happens."

"And they die here?" His voice is raising again, panic setting in. "How many people have come here and died because of your stupid warning?" He's on his feet looming over the child, though, still in the distance.

"Dozens, and they return to their normal lives back where they came from only to come back to do it all over again."

"And they never notice..." His voice drops. "Mikami."

"Light, you were born sensative which makes you able to speak to shocks and other haunts." He leans back only slightly when the older male approaches him. "That's how you were able to speak to Mikami but keeping him from returning screwed things up and now instead of being a risidual, you had Mikami switched places with someone else- the former lawyer of B's. He moved out of his home and into Woodside when he'd returned here after being derailed by you."

"And you knew, but you sent me that message anyway?" He stomps across the room grabbing the child by his shirt, slamming him into the wall. "Do you have any idea what's been happening to me since coming here!"

"And if you love Mikami, you'll put all that aside and help him escape from the hell you've left him in." He remained calm within the threatening grasp. "The reset is coming, and Mikami will be killed by Beyond _perminantly_ if you don't free him. Only you can do it, Light."

The man's teeth grit in a snarl, and releasing one hand from the younger males shirt he smashes his fist into the boys flaccid face. "That's for bringing me here! To this nightmare!" Near, though his face is reddening, remained unmoved. "Tell me how to save him... I have to get out of here myself, but I have to save Mikami."

"You have to see Mello or Matt, they can help you get into the other world without sleeping."

Light nods, stapling the information into his brain.

"You're at risk still, of being killed in your sleep." He grabs the males hand to free himself. "Those hard daydreams you've been having you'll have to intensify them in order to save Mikami, but you have to be careful of not ending up like the others yourself."

"This is all insane."

"This insanity is why the town can't be saved. There's nothing left to save but the new lives that come into it. That's why I'm here, and will remain here." He grabs the bottom of his shirt lifting it to show a large slash on his torso. "B did this to me when I stayed in the outskirts, the shocks burned me when I was replaced here at Mikami's home. I never felt them in waking, but when the darkness comes over the town... the pain is terrible. ...Or at least it was when I was alive."

Light touched his own injuries.

"Stay here tonight, but see Matt or Mello in the morning." He walks over to the door. "I have a spare room across from this one, sleep there. Goodnight, Light." He closes the door.

...

Light lay in bed, on his back with his hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. His conversation with the young profit still runs through his mind.

_'If what he said is true then... Mikami is nothing more than a ghost. But how can I believe that? I've touched him, I've been... I've been intimate with him; but Near is telling me that he was never there. All those times we spent together were usually in one of our homes- I didn't imagine Mikami's apartment back in Kanto. Did I?'_ He rolls over onto his side, one arm bent up beneath his head. _'I wonder if Near is asleep, yet? I wanna ask him about Mikami. Maybe he's wrong, he's... eighteen years old, what does he know anyway.'_

But sitting up in bed, he decides against it and instead heads for the bathroom that's across from the boy's bedroom. Turning on the light, he closes the door; his right hand lifts to scratch at the stinging coming from the burn on his left wrist. He can't believe how much these hurt, his neck is feeling a little strange as well; sort of like he's wearing a tie that's been pulled far too tight. Turning to the mirror he looks at the bandaged injuries in the reflection, touching his hand to the netted white material.

_'Another world... If I'm killed there, I'll be dead and there won't be any coming back. My mother, father, and Sayu...'_ He clenches his fist. _'I can't do this to them. I have to get back to Japan, but I also can't leave Mikami sitting in wait for something terrible to happen to him. I love Mikami, and for being with me, regardless what condition it was under, I owe him better than busting up his life to leave him in one, more horrible than hell.'_

Light caught his breath when his hands came up behind his head, doing an action that ressembled pulling longer hair into a ponytail. Unnerved that his body would move on its own, he forces them down at his sides and into his jeans' pockets but it did no good as his left hand pulls from the hideaway to come up to his face and, what looks to Light, remove a pair of glasses setting them down on the sinks counter. Light begins smacking at himself; you'd think bugs were crawling all over him, but he has to stop the tingles running through his body, and remove the force that's taken over him from touching him and moving him about the bathroom. Fingernails dig into his hands and along his chest and torso, to the back of his neck. A panicked sound escapes his throat; his back pops against the bathroom door in all his frightened, frantic, movement.

"Stop it. Stop it, stop it!" He shouts, hands bracing himself in a tight hold.

His bracing was futile, though, as his legs walk over to the shower, hand reaching for the silver knobs in the shower to turn on the water. A hot spray shoots from the showerhead into the dark green tub. Light's hands move with the intention of undressing him, but as quickly as he could and with all the strength he could muster, he grips the towel bar, foot set sturdy against the side of the bathtub and he shoves himself backward falling to the floor with a grunt. He lay there, panting heavily, unsure of whether or not he could move on his own again but when he was sure the involuntary movements had stopped he sits up, shaken to the core. Calming his nerves he sets a, sock covered, heel into the floor scooting himself back until he hits the door using it to help him stand upright.

_'What the hell was that?'_

When the sound of the shower curtain pulling over hits his ears, Light tore from the bathroom hoping the bedroom door would be enough to keep the invisible being away. He locks the door, backing away from it to the bed. Taking a seat, he watches the door waiting for something to either happen or not happen, either way he wasn't going to bed tonight.

Light was still on the verge of fighting sleep when someone knocked on the door. He braced himself for another weird moment, but a voice called through the door.

"Mr. Yagami, breakfast is ready in the dining room. Would you care to join master Near or will you be taking your meal in the bedroom?"

It was the man who'd answered the front door yesterday. The journalist rubbed his tired eyes, getting up from his seat at the corner of the bed. Walking to the door he turns the lock then pulls it open.

"Glad to see you're up, did you sleep well?" He walks away from the door.

"Hardly. I didn't really sleep at all."

"Oh?" He's leading Light to the dining room.

The house looks much more inviting from the inside than it does outside. The open curtains provide a good amount of daylight to shine in through the window, and being white the room would be lit up even if the curtains had been closed. Light walks into the dining room, pulling a seat out for himself. Near is already seated at the table, a spoon in hand as he awaits another mouthful to be brought in.

"Near," He takes a seat. "last night something strange happened to me while I was in the bathroom." He felt comfortable talking to Near about the weird things that go on rather than the others who would probably laugh or call him crazy. "My body was moving on its own, but it didn't feel as though anyone was holding me, forcing me to do it."

Taking a drink of what smelled like pineapple orange juice, the teen- who could pass for 13- set his glass down. "Do you remember what I told you about haunts? I hope the answer is yes, I hate repeating myself within a short span of time."

"I remember." Light nods; his head turns to see the younger male's- whomever the elderly man is- setting a plate of food down infront of him and a glass before its filled with a drink.

"What you felt was a strong cluster of actions left behind by Mikami from when he used to live here."

Last nights actions ran through his head. How many times had he seen the male due a nightly routine when he'd spent the night at his place.

"Not only are spirits everywhere, a lot of the time they walk right through us causing their actions to become our actions." He takes another drink. "Mikami's life force is now scattered all over the place, rather then set in the few places he normally frequents. What you felt was a cluster of action, nothing more. I have the same experiences from time to time."

"About that... how can I fix it? What's gonna happen to Mikami once I find him?"

"You'll go to the other world, there you'll be forced to live through Mikami's last actions before death- its tough- but you have to pull yourself from him in order to tell him that he's no longer alive."

"And if I can't break out of him?" He recalls how hard it was to do that last night.

"Pray you wake up before he dies." The boy smirked in that know-it-all way he had when they'd first met. "Whether they want to or not the dead will drag you down to meet the same end that they had."

It wasn't what he'd said but how he said it that pissed Light off. But instead of slamming his fist down on the table or throwing a glass at the annoying child's head, he cuts into a link of sausage, saying before he eats it.

"If you're implying that Mikami would want me to die then you're mistaken; you're the one who sent his note to me, remember?" Light was not about to get into an arguement with someone ten years younger than himself. So after that statement he ate his breakfast quietly, while thinking deeply about the situation. How was he supposed to get into this 'other world' that Near speaks of? "Near, I asked Matt about the things that attacked me- he saw me on the road when it happened-" He made sure to clear that up. "but he said that I was alone, that I just started freaking out."

Finished with his meal, the teen looks at the male. "Living here, being born and raised, the people of this town see nothing wrong with it that hasn't already been there. Those creatures out there are nothing more than victims and corpses. Beyond for one, another example is the crime, the towns people, and a cult."

"A cult?"

"A group of people who worship and summon wrongful things in order to blame it when they do something wrong." He draws his leg up into the chair. "A small group of people meet up to inhale a toxic smoke cloud created when burning a plant: White Claudia. The effects of it are said to give you a religious experience, taking you to the other world to be kissed by a God- only in their case it was the devil they were after. That was many years ago, but the main cause of Old towns downfall. They burned it in the wrong place and this was done after having already inhaled the toxic smoke a short while before. The double dose caused them to flip out and they all killed each other beneath the towns steel welding factory. There was an explosion that shook this town to its knees and this, Light, is your big story. The world won't care when it comes to devil worship and religious views. What this has to do with you is that this is one of the ways Mikami died, how he'd originally met his end, the other way you have to find out for yourself by getting into his mind."

"Matt and Mello can help me with that?"

"Matt was part of that cult, or at least his mother was. She sent him away to live with his grandparents because regardless wanting to do it, she never wanted it for her son. I lived her last day, thats how I know this. She passed something down to her seven year old son, though."

"What?"

"He's a stoner." The boy smirks. "He's been second handing the stuff since he was two, and still uses it."

Light would have laughed at how seriously the boy had said it but he kept his humor at bay. "So Matt has White Claudia?"

"Yes, he sells it to the mob for money from time to time, I've seen him do it."

"I think that Mello was smoking some when he'd brought me to the dump the other night."

"Matt must have gotten him hooked on it. The slightest whiff of the stuff can be enough to make you tipsy, if Mello had been close enough to you while smoking it its very possible that you'd gone under without knowing it."

_'Then I was imagining things.'_

"Don't get me wrong Light, what seems like a dream is real. Like someone experiences physical pains or hyperventalates over a traumatic memory- whether its been a day or many years- the pain is very real and damaging."

Light nods his understanding. "I should go. I don't know how long it will take and I can't risk getting stuck here."

"Three days."

"I know." Getting up from the table he walks to the front door slipping his feet into his sneakers. "Near?"

The boy looks at him to show he's listening.

"Are you...?" He couldn't ask. It was better to keep on pretending that he's speaking to a person and not a spirit. "Nevermind. Thanks for answering my questions." Opening the front door he walks out into the sunshine. Checking his watch he sees that its eight o'clock. Across the street he sees that Matt's stolen car is gone, but he crosses the street regardless; hopefully the male left him a note about where he's going.

The home was strangely unwelcoming without the gamers presence inside. Thankfully Matt did leave him a note tacked to the inside of the front door. It read that he went to Mello's apartment in the outskirts, the one beside Woodside, Blue Creek apartment number 207. Hurrying to his rental he sticks the key into the slot, starting the car he wastes no time getting to Blue Creek.

...

"Do you know how sick it would be if you could mix chocolate and cigarettes without having to combine them through separate consumption?" Mello asks his lover sucking a puff of smoke from the white, filtered stick. "Here." He holds out the stick; passing smoke through his nose.

Parting his lips at the fed up sound his lover makes, he turns his head, face showing disgust. "Dammit, Mel' stop sucking on sweets before smoking that's so disgusting." He removes the fix from his mouth. "Light one for me." Handing the cigarette back he blows out the puff of smoke he sucked in.

"Light me another one," Mocks the blond. Getting off the couch he walks into the small kitchen to get the pack when he hears a knock at the door. "Who the hell is this?" He asks himself walking to the door. Removing his gun from the waistband of his pants, he looks through the peephole. "Its that Light guy." He turns to his friend who's lost in the virtual world. "And you don't care, because you're not listening." Placing the gun onto the counter top, he then opens the door.

"I need your help." Light says walking inside.

"With what?"

"Near, the albino child living in old town said that you and Matt can help me get to Mikami." He gets to the point. There's no reason to dance around it anymore. He only has three days before this reset happens and he is not going to die here.

"So then you know?" Mello asks.

"Yeah, Near told me." He follows Mello into the kitchen taking a seat on a stool.

"Hn. Be lucky you were told, I had to find it out for myself." He takes a clean dishrag then runs it under the water of the kitchen sink. Wiping his face just below the eye he shows Light a nasty burn hidden by a concealer. "And this was done to me by Matt."

"Matt? You mean?"

Mello nods. "Matt... died, I'm not even sure when. This place has no sense of time further than the week they're in. They don't know the month, year, barely what number the date is." Nodding his head his lovers way, he says. "I spent the night with him once, it was a night when it snowed. Matt woke me up because he was screaming like he was being attacked. It turns out he was on fire, I tried everything to put him out but I couldn't. He'd been like that before I met him."

Light wanted to say something but nothing came out. Matt's dead as well. Finding his voice he asks. "But, how can you-...?" He looks at the gamer knowing their conversation is going unheard since the boy is easily swept into whatever he's playing.

"What, love him? Be with him?" He waves him over to the couch pointing for him to sit. "Because regardless being dead, it never shows. He's just a normal guy until it snows. Its like some weird thing that happens here, ash falls from the sky- that's why it isn't cold, why it doesn't stick. The air is so thick with death in Central and the Old town its a wonder you don't die from a light jog."

Light recalls his being out of breath just from running across the street.

Grabbing a bag from the side table, he pours some into an empty ash tray. "You sure you wanna do this?" He asks striking a match. "If you release him, you'll never see Mikami again. That's why I can't tell Matt what happened... I don't wanna lose him."

"Its different with Mikami... he came to where I lived and because of me, I'll never be able to see him again anyway."

Mello seemed to take that to heart. "Sorry to hear that. Good luck then." He drops the match. "Breathe deep, it won't take long." He walks into the bedroom.

Light closes his eyes breathing in the scent of the smoke. He hoped this worked and yet, he also hoped it didn't. When his eyes began to get heavier than simply being closed, he forced them open. Mello glances at him, the full of his burn showing now, before returning to what he's doing, which is tying Light up by his ankles, a rope is already around his arms pinning them down.

In a hazey voice he asks. "What are you do-..."


	6. Black and Gold Snow

Warnings: There is sex, cry about it and I'll give you such a look... . Hahaha. This is actually important to the plot, its not just tasteless wooo hooo hoo yeah. So that's that. Thank you for reading and leaving a review if you choose to.

...

Before Light opened his eyes, before he could tell where exactly it is that he's at, he smells the burning scent of smoke: thick and rich, smothering. His lungs are so awash with the dark cloud its as if bits of ash itself were going up his nostrils into them and seering the tender walls of flesh. A hard cough escapes his chest exiting from his mouth. As he recovers from the violent series of coughs he's undergoing, his eyes then fly open. He painfully gasps at the sight of an ominously large black cloud, so dark you'd think your vision was gone due to your eyes being snatched clean out of your head. Turning his head to free his mind from what seemed to be hypnotism, he tries getting up when he realizes something.

_'I can't move!'_ He wriggled and tried but he was unable to move his body, then it dawned on him that Mello had tied him up before he went under. Was it somehow effecting his mobility. Near said that the hardest part of going back is getting out of the person you wake up in. Struggling, he tries again and again to move. _'Maybe I'm not in Mikami's body, and I've gone over into someone else.'_ Light looks around, _'Where am I?'_ he wonders taking in what little of the room can be seen through the haze. _'Its not the apartment, is it?'_

He can't recall specifics about the items he's seen when he was there before, but everything in the place looks like what should be within that room. Not of his own accord, Light slides from the bed onto the floor, he pulls the neck of his shirt up over his mouth and nose before making a run for the bedroom door; tripping over something unseen in his way, he falls to the floor with a loud thud! Grunting as his arms take the most damage in the fall, he leans up onto his side; the smoke filtering shirt slips down from his mouth instantly in the new position so, holding his breath, he kneels where he is then removes his arms from the garment to better wrap it around the lower part of his face, tying it behind his head securely with the long sleeves. Unfortunately his lungs aren't the only things that sting now, his eyes are pretty bad off as well and he blinks rapidily a moment to try moistening his vision to better see. Standing, Light sways a bit; it was hard enough breathing in the first place, but with his shirt around his face he was damn near suffocated so he gets back down to the floor; its the correct thing to do in a fire anyway. Feeling around along the floor, he searches for an opening against a wall where the door would be. Minutes pass by until the smooth edge of the wall suck his fingers past it from the break created by the opening under the door.

His eyes smile from where his restrained lips can barely move, and he reaches up for the door knob. "Shit!" His covered voice bellows. The knob is piping hot! There must be a fire directly outside of the door. 'How the hell do I get out now?' He looks around. _'I have to find a window.'_ Just as he stands the room shakes beneath his feet. _'What now!'_ He rocks again, dropping back to his hands and knees. 'Earthquakes?' He wonders staying on the ground. A creaking sound calls attention to his ears, its louder than the roar of the flames howling outside of the door. Turning his head over his shoulder, he can see a patch in the door burning away as flames lick up from under where his fingers had felt beneath not long ago. He'd better find the window and quickly. Reaching out a blind hand for the bed, Light catches his fingertips on the rounded post, stretching himself forward a bit more he grabs the round head, with it, pulling himself closer to the bed.

_'If I'm in the apartment, and the door is back there... then the window should be to my left.'_ Crawling over to where the window should be located, with his hands he's scaling the wall but feels nothing. 'How the hell did the room get switched around? Did I get off the wrong side of the bed? Thinks Light, think!' It dawned on him that Mikami has a bathroom in his bedroom and the door he reached under could have been that. Which would mean the window is on the other side of the room. The loud roar of the fire grew as the doors bottom broke under the deterioration of itself. It wouldn't be long before the fire was in the room with him instead of around him- scratch that- an orange glow peeked its head around the corner of the, made larger, underside of the door like a thief peeking into a room to check if the coast was clear to enter. Before Light knew, the wall was being engulfed, as if someone had splashed lighter fluids all over it. His body remained sitting there, stupidly watching the fire reach the ceiling.

_'Move!'_ He coaxed his own lifeforce. "Dammit, move!" He tore up from the floor, his own two feet able to feel as they normally would and not as just his brain sending physical emotions to the rest of his body because he knows how something like those earthquakes would be reacted to. Hands smacking soundly against the walls until he pats it against the glass of a window, though, a little harder than he had meant to causing it to break out. The open windowpane was like a magnet to the smoke cloud sucking it out of the room in a hurried rush, but no matter how much it pulled the smoke never ended, never cleared away. Locating the lock on the window, Light turns it, pulling it open right away. He'd never been more thankful in his life than he was when stepping out of the screenless window. He toppled over onto the grass, the shirt over his face comes off instantly and through hard coughs and pants he catches his breath.

"I made it out." Whispered a scratched voice. "I'm safe."

Or at least he'd thought so until the noise outside caught up with his blood-rushed ears. Screams are the first thing he hears, high and frightened unlike screams you would normally hear, these sound unearthly; following the screams are poudning foot steps, hurried and stumbled, most ending with someone tripping from their pace. Then came the other sounds, ones not as familiar as the others. It sounded like a cannon going off, right before a loud boom that shakes the ground as powerful as an earthquake. Is it a missle attack? But who would-..?

"Mikami?" He spots the man as he fell to the ground as if he had just jumped from the window Light had exited from. "Mikami!" Getting up from the grass, he catches himself as he sputters out another series of coughs. "Wait!" He hurries after the fleeing male while slipping the shirt back over his bare chest. Where could he be going? Can he hear him? He has to be able to; if Near says that he has to tell Mikami that he's dead, then the lawyer can definitely hear him. So why is he running away? "Mikami!" He continues to call out.

Earthquakes shake the ground throwing off his balance every now and then, but he refused to let himself fall, not when he can see his beloved just a good distance ahead of him. Mikami is running with such determination, Light wonders where it is that the male is going to. Observing the scenery as he passes by, he's startled at the mass fires that have broken out. It wasn't just Mikami's home, it was all of Old Town, it seemed not a single place is being spared in the burning slaughter. A man just getting out of the window in his bedroom doesn't get the chance to touch the ground as a large tree lands directly on that part of the home, taking it out as well as crushing him beneath it and the broken home. Blood oozed out of the man's mouth as his crushed body tried to save itself from drowning on the inside. Another earthquake knocked him to his knees, scraping one badly, but he couldn't register the pain, not yet anyway. Horrid little patches of fire pepper the grass and sidewalks, either growing or shrinking away from lack of things to burn. The people are what wrenched at Light's heart-strings the most, he's between helping them and leaving them in their wriggling writhing state of being burned to death.

A woman came tearing from her home in his direct path; she isn't on fire but she's very wound up- its to be understood with all the chaos going on. Light grabbed her by the upperarms when she was at a reachable distance. "Miss, you have to calm down!" He shouts over her screams.

The woman looked as though a ghost were holding her and began pulling and tugging to get free. Light releases her, if that's really what she wants then he has to comply. Shaking, hysterical, laughter escapes her mouth, she seems to almost be babbling before she burst into flames that died out so quickly it left nothing but a pile of ashes. Another quake brings him back to his senses and he dashes off to where Mikami had gone to.

_'Is this the incident?'_ He wonders dodging a falling burning tree. _'The one that Near had been talking about. The town burned down in a large fire, but where is it coming from?'_

Looking off to where the sound of explosions is coming from, Light can't clearly see it, but it seems to be a factory of some kind; it looks like a giant bonfire off in the distance near Central. What could have happened in there to cause the explosion? The sky around him looks like black and gold snow, only it wouldn't be fun to catch an ember on your tongue or even in your hair. He has to be extra careful.

...

With a frown on his lips Mello watches Light's twitching body; the blood on his knee, showing through his clothes, is alarming and he's wondering if he should wake the man up before something dire happens to him. He knows what its like to be there, to be on the otherside, only he didn't get the option of going willingly, he was brought there by mistake- Light's mistake. Because of his love for Mikami the rift between the two worlds became more of a- whenever IT feels like it kind of thing, rather than the horror just happening at night. The damn ashes of snow the only warning before something mysterious happens. He never knew about Matt until that horrible morning when he'd spent the night at his place and the male woke up screaming, his flesh tearing off. Matt acted as though he was alone in the bed, in the room, in the world. Its always been a painful memory, not because Matt had placed his hand directly over his eye without knowing it, burning away the flesh, and hair from it and his vision in that eye, but because he couldn't help Matt; in the end the male lay on the floor screaming until he'd stopped breathing. Mello brought him to the hospital and he got emergancy care but it was futile. He was placed in the hospital morgue. Mello left the town, thinking that he'd never come back but Monday, four days later, Matt wrote him a letter asking where the hell he was and why he hadn't come to see him in a while. Sure that it was a joke, he went, if only to punch the asshole tricking him in the face, but there he was in their favorite cafe in Central playing his handheld, actually dropping it when seeing him.

_'That was when I'd found out about this place, or at least what I could. All I know is that its fucked up, like some weird kind of magic. Dark magic, that pulls people in, sewing the outside world into its graveyard quilt unless you can find an angle to work. I'd always wondered why the hell Matt kept saying, "you have this many days and that" but I know now that this town has a limit, a reset. You're free to live as you want and no matter what happens once the reset comes, you'll be right back where you started from. It's nothing short of living forever, but you're dead anyway and bound to the place of death. And its trying its damndest to bring more people under. That's why I can't stay here, I won't be pulled in. No matter how many times I get sucked into the darkness, I won't succumb to it completely. For Matt's sake, and my own.'_ Looking at the gamer, who's giving him a curious stare, Mello smiles at him before walking over to take his hand.

"What's all this?"

"I'm gonna go home again tomorrow. I thought we should say a proper goodbye until we see each other again."

"Sweet." Looking over his shoulder, he asks. "And what about him?"

"He'll be fine. Come on."

...

Out of breath and exhausted Light hunches over to catch his breath. He lost sight of Mikami ages ago but he knows where he has to go; its just sort of a weird sense in the back of his mind. There's so much soot in the air, he can't seem to calm his desperate need for air good enough to keep him from needing a good minutes break after running for only three. Light remembers that the bridge is up ahead, but the road is out... or is it? Darting down Bachman road, Light is surprised to see that the street is fixed, he knows that there is a large crator there or at least there should be. Passing down the road he falls back onto his butt when a flaming stone penatrates the street a short moment after he's gone through. Covering his head with his forearms to avoid being beaten with debris, he gets back to his feet when he's sure the worst of it is over. The noise has died down considerably in this part of town since there aren't really many homes down here. But that doesn't make the scene any less unsettling; windows are shattering with each earthquake, sounds of businesses falling to pieces, the uncomfortable still from lack of human life. Light knows that this town will soon be like this part of the street. Dead.

He momentarily leans his weight against the side of a cold building, looking from left to right down the dark streets. The bridge is close to here, hopefully closer than he knows when on foot. Pushing away from the building, like the tree and the ball of fire, he just misses having something come down on him to crush his body beneath it. Gathering his breath, he runs down the street as hard as his bruised leg will carry him. But the bridge was not the welcoming place that he thought it would be. Terror grips him as his only exit from Old Town is blocked off by a sea of burning bodies, all still alive, all looking up at the tall blockade before them that refuses to be lowered so they may pass.

_'That's sick... Why would the bridge be up?'_ Looking towards the tower, he sees that its clear. Maybe Aizawa left the key to the bridge in the lock. If he can lower it, he can make it out. Central may not be any better off but at least they'll have police to help them, firemen, things that the small town lacks. Making a right for the stairway he pushes the door open easily. It had already been unlocked. Eyes wide, he calls out. "Mikami!"

The man looks his way, but its as if he doesn't see him because he only looks confused, almost a bit concerned before turning back to what he was doing which is helping a very dead Aizawa from the floor. But what could have killed him? The hut is in tact. Moving closer, he kneels down beside the body to examine it; it would seem that Aizawa would rather shoot himself in the head then be burned or crushed by the steadily falling town. Throwing glances at Mikami, who seems not to notice him at all, Light can't help but think how its scary being this close to him, knowing what he knows now, and also knowing that he's still in love with him. How can he reach him to talk to him? Near never gave any instruction beyond see him and tell him.

_'If I touch him then...'_ His hand creeps slowly out toward the man's jawline but freezes before making contact. _'There's that sound again?'_ The siren blares loudly through the night sky, but that isn't what Light is hearing. _'Its him. He's coming!'_ Getting up, he opens the door to take a look. Sure enough Pyramid Head is coming up the street towards the bridge but his attention seems focused elsewhere. Down before the bridge is a man, he's different from the others. He isn't moving as if its his job to do what he's doing, he's more like Light.

"No, wait!" He presses his back against the safety of the bridge, the burning crowd nothing to the man compared to the doom heading his way. "I'm not even supposed to be here!" He turns to run, but to nowhere because the bridge isn't up.

"Run! Up here! Hurry!" Light calls to the man.

The same frightened giggles escape the man just as they had the woman who he'd grabbed before she burned away, but he looks directly at Light which meant that he had heard him. "Help me!" He screams before running towards the tower. But he's too late to move and the large sword thrust forward taking the man's head clean off! Blood sprayed into the air like someone doing a spit take from the strangers neck, his body takes two steps forward before collapsing to the street, first his knees then his torso.

Light watches, eyes wide and horrified. He didn't just see that. Trembling, he jumps out of his skin when the bridge begins to lower. Mikami. Turning his head, he double takes before his gaze falls back to B who's crouched over the dead body, one hand gripped tightly to the back of the man's shirt, the other rocking his weapon back onto the man's defenseless wrist causing the hand to snap clean off. Releasing the shirt, he lifts the other hand into the air swinging the arm over the man's back so that the wrist slams into the sword. Light swallowed hard seeing the arm drop just lifelessly onto the owner's back.

Beyond Birthday never had a life, he loves you with a butchers knife, he'll take your hands and steal your feet, your brain is what he likes to eat...

L's words dance through his mind as he slams the door shut. He can still get out if B can remain distracted with that man long enough for him to get by. Looking out the window, he checks on the progress of the massive slab of concrete. "Damn it! Can't this thing go any faster!"

It no longer mattered as the scraping sound started again. Pyramid Head is moving again!

Cursing in a stream of a single swear, he quickly locks the knob then the bolt on the door, hoping its enough to stop the psycho from getting in. Pressing his back to the large metal door, he closes his eyes tightly when he hears the sword bumping along the stairs.

"No. It wasn't supposed to be like this!" He shouts to no one. "Mello, where the hell are you!" He's scared beyond all reason. "Mello!" He knows its going to happen. He's going to die. He'll die here and his family will never know what happened to him. They'll send search teams and someone somewhere will recall his saying something about where he had intended to go, and they'll come here looking for him and end up just as he has. "Mello!"

...

Mello moans as his bare hips pop against the back of his lovers thighs, driving his member deeper into him. Leaning over, he takes a good nip at the gamers neck breaking the skin, sucking feverishly at the blood and slowly raising welt. He knows it won't matter later on, it'll just be a memory rather than a hickey. It amazed him how the dead could bleed, but then it is an unknown force they deal with every time they step into this city so why wonder anything. Moving his knee between Matt's parted thighs he further spreads one giving it a quick shove over before returning his leg to the other side. Matt's cry into the pillow voiced his appreciation and his torso arches with the dipping of his head.

The gamer takes his lovers hand guiding it up to his chest, glad that a teasing pinch is oblidged to his nipple.

...

"Mello! Me-..!" Light continues to scream until a bang against the door jolts him forward hard enough to have you believe the door had opened. Crying out in fear and frustration, he presses his back against the door once again to help it remain shut; it was as if B had a group of battering rams slamming into the door all at once with as hard as the door is being pummeled and pushing in. "Mikami help me!"

But his love crumpled to the concrete floor as if struck by something on the back of his head.

"Mikami! Mikami, get up!" Light can actually hear the sword being lifted from the ground as it slices through the air being swung back behind the creature before it comes rushing forward to slice through the door. "Noooooo!" His eyes squeeze shut tightly.

...

Very close pressed kisses are shared between the spent bodies but Mello has something weighing on his mind now that his distraction is over. Brushing his slim fingers through the sweaty bangs of his bed partner, he sighs. "Matt?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you happy? I mean, really happy?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

Mello shrugs. They're quiet for a moment, but again Mello has something to say. "Would you be upset if you never saw me again?"

Matt didn't like where this conversation was going and decided to ignore it by changing subjects. "I got a high score in Super Smash Brothers, I'm the king of playing Link and in World of War-..."

"Answer the question, Matt!" Snaps the blond, releasing his intimate hold of the male he leans up on one elbow to look down at the man. "Would you be upset if you never saw me again?"

"Yes, I'd be fucking upset! Dammit Mello, half the time it feels like you're the only thing that's real in this damned life! Is that what you wanna hear?" He sits up to loom over his lover and show that he isn't some push over, also that if Mello plans to leave him for good he's gonna have one hell of time trying to escape. He'd kidnap him if he had to. Something about the end of the week always freaked him out somewhere inside, like some horrible doom is coming. Its always been his deepest wish that Mello would stay with him just one time, but the blond always up and leaves before Monday morning.

Mello's two colored eyes stare at the male raging with passion as hard breaths lower and raise his chest in hard puffs. "I'm not leaving you, I just wanted to know." He caresses the Matt's cheek only to have the hand smacked away right before the brunet coils himself up into his arms.

"Well its a stupid ass question- pointless too." He added quickly after. "Would I be upset?" He scoffs. "Go check on Light, stupid." Rolling out of his lovers grip he then cuddles himself against the pillow as if ready for bed.

"All right." Getting out of bed, he grabs his boxer shorts, unaware of the admired free show he's giving the brunet who's looking over his shoulder watching. After Mello pulled on his jeans and shirt, he walks into the living room then rushes back into the bedroom. "He's gone!"

"What?" Throwing the covers aside, he gets up as well. "Where'd he go?" He's grabbing for his clothes.

"How would I know! Just help me find him." He disappears back into the living room. Light can't have gotten far.

L couldn't help himself, Light is just so cute, especially when he's muttering in his sleep. So he had to forgive him of slipping his hand down his pants for a little touch. Its his own fault! He was a basket case, clearly, as L found him leaping from Blue Creek apartment to Woodside from a window no less. The man is going insane. He brought him into his apartment, into the bedroom. Light had woken up long enough to take a drink and calm his nerves, but he was still pretty woosie from whatever he has in his system.

"L?"

A bit of a gasp escapes the male with the naughty slight of hand and he withdrawls it quickly from beyond the waistband of Light Yagami's pants. "Yes, Light. I'm here."

His eyes blink open, looking around the room slowly then the honey brown gaze falls upon his savior. "Thank you. You saved my life."

"Did I? Well, if you consider catching you before that rope nipping at your ankles managed to jerk you to the ground floor from outside, then you're welcome." Looking at the man with a hard gaze, unmoving for any distraction, he touches Light's cheek. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." He felt the tears streaming down his face before he realized that he was crying.

"Are you?" He asks again seeing the new developement of Light leaning over, face falling into his hands like something out of a drama. But unlike drama's he isn't verbally crying, just letting the tears streak and leak from between his fingers and palms. "He's gone, L. Mikami is." He says before the male can ask. "I saw him but he couldn't hear me and now... now I think its too late to help him."

Light wasn't even sure how it is that he got out of Mello's apartment and into L's but he was glad to hear the man's voice calling to him from the other side before that monster could get in. It was a blur, but just as the door collapsed in on him he ran forward and leaped out the window, next thing he knows he's got L talking to him and offering him a drink before he took a brief rest. He wasn't asleep, he was just resting his head from the haze left behind from inhaling the White Claudia.

"I'm sorry." Offers the man, still with his eyes on Light as if he's some sort of specimen to be studied. Well, he's never been around many people, not personal space like and the only time anyone would talk to him was in a big crowd, as if he would try something otherwise. It was very disheartening, and unsettling to be treated in such a way. But such is life, sometimes you're going to be disappointed, unfortunately for some its a lot more than others. "You should," His hand hesitates over the idea of putting itself around Light's shoulders. Among other things people don't care for being touched by him either.

"I have to try again. I have to ask Near for more help because I did something wrong, I'm sure of it." Sitting up straight he turns his head seeing L, poised to place his arm around him as comfort, seated in that craddled way he's always seen the man. Light had to smile since the man looked a lot like a gargoyle- well, a lot better looking than one of those ugly monsters. A flash of that Shinigami from the dump pops into his head and he shudders mentally, shaking it away. Smirking, Light gives L a know-it-all look before saying. "You think with all that you've already done to me, you wouldn't be afraid to put your arm around me."

L seemed taken aback by that for a moment, then he realized what Light had meant. "You knew I was-..."

"I wasn't asleep, L." He scratches the back of his neck as if rubbing a sore spot. "I prefer it when a man is direct, and doesn't resort to childish things like fondling a person in their sleep."

L could hear the quotations around the word 'sleep'. It didn't matter, though, because to him it seemed as though Light was giving him permission to be lewd with him. His hand, unable to resist the invitation, returns to Light's crotch giving it a good caress through the man's jeans. Light was momentarily embarrassed by that choice of action. He's never met anyone so... colorful as L- well, bold would be a better choice in wording, since the man was as washed out as they came.

Lifting the hand from his person, Light says calmly. "You really have no social grace at all, do you? How 'bout we start with that nice dinner date I promised you first."

"Right, of course." Getting off the bed, he stuffs his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. "Get prepared, I'm nearly a five star cook when it comes to steak and kidney stew."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Light rolls his eyes. "I'll try to keep my clothes on while I eat, chef."

"Chef?" He taste the word. "I suppose I could be." He says something else as he enters the living room but it seemed like self promoting rambles.

Light chuckles to himself. Being around L after all that is exactly what he needs. The weird man's mannerisms always seem to take the dark and lonely feeling from him. But Mikami. Why hadn't he heard him calling, there wasn't even an instant when it seemed that the man was secretly listening to him but choosing to ignore. To Mikami Light simply wasn't there. That woman, though, she treated him like a ghost. So maybe even if Mikami had heard him he didn't know where it was coming from. He must have been invisible to all but the man who had been there by accident, as he'd screamed. That gruesome sight is still as fresh in his mind as the smell of smoke and burning flesh. Swallowing hard, he looks down at his leg which has a bandage on it from L's doing. It was bleeding over there, but here it looks like an old wound healing from what he could peek of it by lifting the edge of the wrap.

The gentle smell of food fills the air, erasing the scented memory created by the otherside.

"Kidney? Yuck." He stands walking from the room.

"If you plan to walk around, can you set the table for me?" He asks from the kitchenette.

"Sure." Heading that way, he opens a pointed to cabinet where plates are stored. Taking down two bowls he walks them over to a small round table setting them upon spread out napkins. Grabbing two spoons and a knife, and from the fridge a stick of butter he sets these things down on the table as well.

"Butter?"

"Nothing better for stew than a nice crusted bread."

"Light pressumes that I have bread in my home." L stirs the contents of the pot.

"Of course you do, everyone has bread."

Smiling, L points to the wooden box marked bread. "It might be empty."

Opening the box Light removes a large hunk of what smells like. "Banana bread?"

"I like banana bread. It crusts up just the same, and is fantastic with butter." He taste test the broth, then adds the chunks of seered meat to the pot.

Light had other opinions on that statement, but cut off slices of the bread regardless placing them into the oven. "How long before we can eat?" He asks.

"A half hour." He covers the pot. Removing a chunk from the sweet fruity bread that was left behind from the many slices Light had taken from it, L pops it into his mouth, eating it as though it were worth a million dollars in taste.

The two stare at each other briefly, but Light breaks the steadily growing spell of L's dark eyes to ask. "So you're in advertisement. How would you sell your stew to me?"

"Mmm. Its a classical taste for serving in a classical place, and what can be more comforting then your own home? The warmth of the meal will steal you away just as the warmth of family. Steak and kidney stew by Lawliet Elliot. Put a bite of home in you."

Light had to take that in a moment, but the corners of his mouth tugged violently causing him to laugh out loud. "Put a bite of home in you? Seriously? That's some corny stuff, L. Even for a family."

The man didn't seem hurt, or embarrassed by his guests laughter. It only seemed to make him a little more in need to flirt with the man. But he instead chose to take a spoonful from the pot, blow it off, and offer it to him instead. "Here."

"Are you sure I should crumple someone's home like this?" He opens his mouth taking the bite. "That's actually really delicious, L. I'm impressed."

"As it is my goal in life." The man rolls his eyes. "Did I not say that my cooking was near five star." He lids the pot. "Go sit while I put it in a serving bowl."

"Right." Leaving the kitchen he takes a place at the tiny, two seater, table. It really was a delicous bite of food, even with the lump of kidney in his mouth. He may have to reconsider his food staples when he gets him. _'I will get home to my family. I'll talk to Near as soon as I leave from L's place.'_

A large bowl is set down before him in the center of the table, next to it a little plastic basket with a napkin to cover the grates filled with the sweet bread. "Dinner is served."

The meal was eaten quietly, it seemed both of them had something to say but neither would say it and so they ate quietly.

_'Mello said that he couldn't free, Matt, that he flat out refuses to. Can I really do it to Mikami?'_ Taking a bite of the bread he makes a face deciding to leave it alone. He doesn't see how L finds that it taste good, and if to him it doesn't he's faking it well since he's had three pieces already. _'I guess Mikami is a different story. But what about L? Is he the same as them or me and Mello? If I look across the table and tell him that he died somehow would he believe me? What would happen then? Will he simply disappear or drop dead to the floor, never to get up again.'_

"Light, do you... care for me?"

"Hmm?"

"After you left before, I didn't get to see you until now and the last time we spoke was over the phone."

A faint smile crosses Light's lips. "I didn't know that I was missed."

"You were... That's what had me wondering if you cared about me." He finishes the last bite of his meal; his gaze is in the empty bowl until the dark gaze lifts to meet Light's eyes. "You plan to go home after you break up with Mikami, don't you?"

_'Break up...'_ The words clung in his mind like a death sentence. He hadn't thought about it. Going home, there was no question in his mind that he intended to go home, but break up with Mikami? _'I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I? Mikami's gone after all, it would be pointless not to end it peacefully with him.'_ He finishes his meal as well. "I wanted to ask him about the town." He suddenly remembered his desire to tell people about the place, to get pictures of it as proof. But thinking about it now, would anything even show up in the camera's film? Would he really want more people to come here and suffer as others that don't leave on the reset suffer? Its unthinkable. "A boy, named Near." He changes subjects.

"Oh? What did you learn?" He asks while releasing the sting of his ignored question.

"That there used to be a cult in Central, and they did some bad things."

"Mm. That's why I live out here, nothing weird like that goes on."

_'He doesn't consider his brother's mass murdering as weird?'_ Taking a drink from his wine he sighs. "I also learned about a terrible accident that happened, but then I don't know why I'm telling you, you may have read about it in the paper- living in the outskirts."

Shaking his head, he shrugs. "No. I haven't. Is it interesting?"

Light shakes his head. He can't and shouldn't tell L about the fire. About how an entire town was blown to bits, just about, due to a crazed cult holding a meeting in the steelmill.

"Shall we get on with the rest of our evening, then?" Asks the glum demeanored male, getting up from the table he walks towards his bedroom.

Following, Light wondered if L ever gave people time to be uncomfortable about something. But, as L said he isn't very popular in this town so he may not have ever been with another person, intimately, in his life. The male's shirt is being removed just when Light walks into the room; the brunet pushed the door but it didn't close entirely leaving a person-sized crack in it. Reaching the bed, his hips are pulled close by L's hands snatching the waistband of his jeans unfastening them while helping himself to a deep kiss. His groan is swallowed by Light's mouth, and the brunet himself shuddered mercifully. It has been a long time since he's felt another person's personal touches and for L he's never had the pleasure at all, so he isn't fairing any better in the need to take it slow. L presses closer to Light when feeling a firm hand entangle in his thick raven colored hair, the other wrapped around his waist.

Shoving the journalist's pants down about his thighs, L leaves the kiss with intentions to better please the man but is stopped midway being pushed back at arms length.

"Have you changed your mind?" He asks.

L's deep, heat, filled voice causes Light's breathing to pick up and he shakes his head to the question before removing his shirt. Pushing L down onto the bed he kicks his feet from his jeans then climbs onto the male weighing him into the mattress. Grinding his hips into the softness of the man's pants, he lavishes the pale and firm chest with a swirling tongue around a protruded nipple, locking it between his teeth to tug, brushing the tip of his tongue along the buds pad before allowing it freedom; a trail of kisses link together to the other bud and Light sucks tenderly to it. L squirms beneath Light; a bundle of nerves as every kiss and suck feels like an explosion onto his body, a ripple of pleasure like water being disturbed by a foot being gently kicked back and forth through it. Small wave after small wave reaching peaks of his body trembling his posture along the way. He can feel his own erection begging to be pressed to Light's; wedging a hand between them he tries for the zipper, but Light backs away to do it for him. Scooting himself back to further help remove the jeans he lowers his lips down to the man's belly button, nipping and licking the taut ring around the dip. He huffs a chuckle into the small hole, due to having his neck tickled by L's erection lifting from its confinement, and the breath is followed by the tip of his tongue.

Broken breaths fill the air from the emotionally lonely male's throat, growing into moans when Light's hand wraps securely around the base of his member, his palm stroking up and down; he really wished that L had lubricant but he doesn't mind supplying his own and so his kiss lowers; mouth open wide he covers the entirety of L's length being sure to get it good and moistened as he sucks with a bobbed head. The raven haired male bucks his hips into the warm inviting tunnel surrounding a sensative part of him; his whole body is twitching with wonder of how to take the trippy, sensual feelings rushing around beneath and about his skin; you'd almost think he were in some sort of pain with his spastic movement on the cushioning bed. Satisfied with the job he's done, Light removes his mouth from the man; a single gesture of a push against L's side he asks the male to turn over onto his stomach, which L complied. Once again Light's hand stroke's L's length, the new slickness against it has the male crying out into the blanket beneath his lowered face; Light's make-out session down his spine curls his back in with delightful shivers and he rocks his hips into the warmth of Light's lap.

The journalist nuzzles his face into the soft skin of the back of L's neck, enjoying briefly the clean cherry scent of the man's hair before he turns his head coming down a bit lower to kiss upon his lips. L's kiss is eager but also shy, testing the limits of what he can and cannot do with Light; when the tip of his tongue brushes into a kiss the two snicker to themselves at L's inexperience but Light happily parts his lips to allow the soft muscle in, caressing it lightly with his own. The advertiser would happily stay like this, his bottom being ground and thumped against by Light while his member is stroked into a coma as they have a heavy kiss so filled with lust and passion it seemed to answer any question that L might have had about how Light is feeling about him. He knows its ridiculous to fall in love so quickly but he's never met anyone quite like Light before and he was emotionally swept up and overwhelmed by him in such a short time. When the pace of rocking waves became near beating down on his backside, and the sticky evidence of Light's enjoyment found itself leaving smears across the back of his thighs; L prepared himself for what was to come but what he did not expect was the feeling of two fingers slipping into him, as gone to the world as he was mentally, his body still had enough sense to freeze up the pleasured jelly it had been reduced to wondering what Light planned to do. Being this close was a lot different than pleasuring yourself with a few jerk offs. Its weird to think now that he'd had his brother's given name on his lips when he'd done it, but to L, B really was the only person he cared deeply for and in some sense it made sense for him. But now, he can see no one but, Light.

"Do you mind if I'm on top?" He asks out of nowhere, already past asking the question, but his fingers make no move to further their intrusion.

Light's voice had actually soothed L out of his fears and the pleasure returned shortly when Light's thumb brushes over and over the slit of his dripping member, as if its a chin being contemplated on by a a finger and thumb waiting for the answers to a question. L answers the question by moving himself back over the fingers, deepening their entrance. He's happy when Light's kiss comes back to distract him from being nervous, but the delicate slip and slide of the male's fingers in and out of him, the way they part in scissor, massaging his insides with slow want that knows how to take its time. The roof of his mouth and underside of his teeth are licked when he lets out three loud moans from the curious taps to his sweet spot; if Light doesn't do this quick he's going to release right then and there because its all too much when combined and its so good he almost wants it to end so he can go back to reality and not have to be let down that the dream is nothing more than an unfinished dream. He had no idea that sex could be good, could be so desireable and leave you so hungry even as its still going on. He can't let Light leave him after this, there's no way his home in Japan has anything to offer him in comparison.

Fingers removed, Light pants heavily as he strokes himself with his own semen to coat his hard-on. He pushes L's hip asking again in silence that he turn over. The advertiser smiles fondly at the male watching him stroke himself before him, so shamelessly. Sex seems to also be pleasure for the eyes. Hand on L's hip, Light positions the head at his partners entrance, sliding in like a hand in a glove but one that may be a bit smaller, but just a bit until he leaned his weight forward a bit more to get in the rest. Both men let out a soft sigh; sitting still in the feeling for just a moment before Light shifts his hips in and out of him, picking it up then slowing it down to L's voiced enjoyment. As for himself, he feels sick with relief of how good it feels to be with someone again, that deep connection, that undescribeable feeling of being inside someone, their body heat seeping into your body, the enclosing walls holding you in heaven. L's timid movement was actually really nice and sweet compared to how he and Mikami would fuck each other like hungry savages so used to one another by the second month.

"Light?" L pants making the addressed unsure if it were out of pleasure or if he had something to say, it didn't help that his words never returned covered by manic moaning caused by Light's pounding hips.

But what did get Light's attention is when L reached up to cup his face and a dark strip dribbled down the pale male's arm. Taking that hand into his own to examine it, Light says. "L, you're bleeding."

Saddened, the darker haired male then smiles at him. "I'm sorry I lied to you, Light."

"Lied to me?"

"About my brother..." He trailed off as his body jerks up and down like someone is using him for a trampoline, a few coughs escape his mouth.

"L... what are..." He backs away; his member pulling out as he does so, but his sex isn't the only thing pulled from L as in Light's hand he still holds tightly to a hand no longer attached to the pale male's wrist. A frightened gasp has him drop the hand to the bed.

L is laughing through sputters of blood. "I'm so sorry, Light. I couldn't tell you the truth... I just couldn't."

It was too late for apologies because Light is freaking out. Eyes wide, breaths staggered and scared, he backs off the bed so rapidly he hits the floor hard.

L sits up, a frown upon his handsome face and he looks lost and abandoned by the world like he had the first day he met Light. "I meant to tell you but, its not an easy thing to bring up." He crawls to the end of the bed, his other hand staying behind where he'd placed it onto the mattress. "Seems like I've lost the other one now." He says when noticing.

Light can only shake his head, though, to what he's unsure. Of L's being dead, or that he's lost another person that's special to him only with L he never really had him yet. "Ge- get away from me..." He snaps bravely in the face of fear.

L huffs a laugh; blood drips from the corners of his mouth and eyes- even his forehead! running down his face like rain would run down a window glass. The horrifying scene fell from the bed onto his bare lap; L leans up on his elbows to recover. Light is frozen in fear seeing a foot left behind in the fall.

"I meant to tell you that when B came home and spent days with me in our apartment... he had one last victim to take before taking himself..." He pushes from the floor, a single foot helping his naked body hobble into the living room. "It was me..."

Standing out in the middle of the living room, L's body fell from his other foot like the ankle had suddenly broke from his weight and the man's neck was the last to start bleeding but his head did not come off, he only seemed to collapse to the floor in a folded up heap.

"I'm sorry, Light... I'm sorry." His black eyes close.

Stunned and scared Light could only hear himself screaming both from fear and disbelief. Fist banging onto the floor, he can feel tears coming to his eyes but his pain is short lived as that familiar scraping sound catches his ear. A low groan sounds from within the hall just outside of the door, sort of like the groaning you'd hear before hollowed metal bends in. _'He's here!'_ Scrambling to his feet; clothes snatched up, he looks about the room for a place to hide finding the closet is the only safe haven. Hurrying inside he tugs the door hard enough that it seemed it would slam but he eased it shut, his hands glued to the knob to keep it that way. He jumps from start when the door breaks in and he hears the insane man enter; the air grows thick and sufficating, even the loud sound of silence is silent. He can hear all the movement in the apartment and a loud thump beats against the floor. Did he drop his sword? Shattered glass fills the air from where the tiny table must have been swept clear, but the worst sound of all is L's pleading voice.

"No, Dineas, please don't."

Movement is coming towards the bedroom! Light can't help but crack the door incase he spots an exit time. But pain coursed through him when he sees the tumor headed creature enter the room, L's hair gripped within his hand before he tosses his brother onto his stomach on the bed. Why does L's head have to be turned to the closet? L is looking right at Light, no plead in his eyes, only fear as he mouths to him 'Run'. Light shakes his head; fear keeping his feet in place. He is relieved seeing that the weapon is not with the man.

Buckles dangle about B's waist when his coat; which upon this closer look, shows Light that its actually an unbuckled full body straight jacket, the monster undoes his pants not bothering with pushing them down before dragging out a very stiff hard-on, then he-...

Light can taste bile in his throat, having to slap a hand over his mouth to keep back his sounds of gagging at the sight playing out before him. B is actually... there is no way he's been doing this to L, his own brother! The pale male's pained grunts force out of him at the thumped pace set by his sibling; the bed is banging so hard against the wall and floor you'd swear _it_ was being hard fucked by the man. He has to do something. He has to save L! But how? The muck filled groans of B turn almost human, panty and light. Through the crack in the closet door, Light watches as the tumor seemed to turn inward as the maniac calmed down somewhere in his own head, reducing him to a man that looks shockingly like L; but Light can't really see his face too well. B's pace picks up and his fingers are practically digging into L's skull.

_'I have to do something!'_ Wishing to not be nude when attacking the man he carefully slides his clothes on trying to be as quiet as he could. When standing to slip his pants on the rest of the way, he takes a step backwards bumping into the clothes hangers on accident causing them to rattle around. "Shit." He whispers. Turning to the crack in the door, he's shoved further back into the closet, his natural defense trying to hide him and keep him safe from danger that is fast approaching. A frightened yell leaves his mouth as a deep red gaze peeks between the crack of the door, a sinister smile spread across the man's lips.

"I see youuuu." The door begins to open wider.


	7. Ending One: Mikami

Please Read: Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Like any good Silent Hill there will be multiple endings. Everything will be the same in the added chapters minus the ending chunk. Okay? So its first ending then it will say A MONTH LATER or THREE MONTHS in the other chapters to show the different ends. You don't have to read the last chapter over and over that's nuts. Just skip down until you see the time jump. Thanks again for reading.

...

B elovates his brother's leg into the air, a hard grip on the older male's thigh to do so, and with all his strength shoves himself deeper into L's body. Pounding into him over and over the coughed and sputtered grunts of L fill his ears calming the pain in his head. He blinks down at his brother, a busted smile spreads across his face and he leans over a bit to place kisses onto the pale cheek that's exposed to him. He can hear his brother whisper something to him along the lines of "don't" but then L could have said anything right now and he wouldn't really understand it. He's not much farther from release when he hears something rattling in the closet. Turning his head he stalks over without a second thought to see what had caused the out of place sound. Grabbing the knob he hears a yelp, instead of flinging the door open, he milks a bit more fear from the hidden mouse that chose the wrong time to let out a yelp. His red eye gazes through the crack setting its sight upon a man, he's seen this man before wandering the building one day. He left him alone, sure that he would be too frightened to run off anywhere, he would definitely be back for him just like all the other stray dogs that end up in his part of town. It was like a sign, a devine sign sent from the heavens that told him what night was perfect to take the world as his meal. Booms were heard in the distance like some hard drum of a heartbeat that night and the booms whispered just as the voice whispered, and the world sang to him as he ravaged the outskirts of Silent Hill clean; or rather, as he intended to. He can't be sure what happened after he went to see his brother... One minute they were talking about something, L laughed at some nonsense that came out of his mouth and the next thing he knew he was fucking his brother. L seemed to like it, he didn't tell him to leave, if he had he hadn't heard him. Dineas Elliot was slowly losing his hearing as the pains in his head grew throughout the years, he jisted and smiled at whatever unheard was said to him. It wasn't as if anyone actually ever spoke to him or his brother anyway- well, they did speak but it was always some curse or rude thing so he just shut them out. The only voice he heard or cared about was Lawliet's.

Which is why when he caught himself decapitating his only loved one, he freaked out and ran away to hide somewhere; the urge to kill was still so strong, though, but after he ran out he has no clue what happened or when his hearing started to return; everyday is a fog of nothing, except for these few fleeting moments of clarity and sanity between the two of them and now some stranger has decided to ruin it. He will pay, dearly. "I see youuuuu." The freaked out little mouse breathed out in a frightened staggered breath but what happened next B was not expecting. The tip of a fingernail came straight pass his eyelids not pausing for a second; there's a low sucking sound, before the finger successfully moves above the eye and behind it. Beyond grunted in start as his vision blurred before losing sight of the left side of the room all together.

Light turned his head as quickly as he could to avoid being hit with the blood that spurts out from the vein snapping to empty the socket, but is a bit too slow getting some in his mouth and the corner of his eye; he blinks away the pain of the foreign liquid there, bursting from the closet, the door bashes into B knocking him down. He's making pained, almost frightened laughs of disbelief that his eye has been removed, and he wriggles and writhes on the floor trying to regain some composure over the immense pain. Light's first intention was to leave and never look back but his legs take him over to the bed where L lay either dead or unconscious, whichever it may be, he's not going to leave him alone with this sicko. Lifting him, he throws him over his shoulder carrying the nude body from the bedroom into the main room of the apartment.

"L, stop it, its me!" He says when the man's limbs begin to flail; his knee almost giving Light a good jab in the ribs but he places a hand on L's thigh to stop it.

Hearing his voice seemed to calm him down as the movement stopped, making him easier to run with. B's sword caught Light's attention; the cool metal shines in the dim moonlight as if asking to be taken and thoughts of doing just that play through his brain as he passes by. He'd have to find another way to do it because if he's gonna get out of here before the siren sounds and the barriers come down locking him in the room with this man, he can't waste time by carrying a possible corpse and a very heavy looking object; besides, he only has ten minutes to get out of the place, into his car, and to the boathouse. He would have slammed the door closed behind him but B had broken it in when he entered. Grabbing the knob to Mikami's apartment he pushes the door open a good crack in hopes to get the mad man's attention and send him in the wrong direction as they make their escape. He then looks up the hall then down wondering if he should take the stairwell or the elevator. The thing just had to be running. Going over to the glowing button, he taps it rapidly waiting for the the doors to open. Even in the distance you can hear a door slam into a wall hard enough to take the wall out rather than simply leave a hole in it, but judging by the thickness to it, it was the bedroom door.

Light was relieved when the doors open with a 'ding' allowing them entrance. He pressed the button for the lobby and when the doors close he lowers L, so that he's holding the man to his chest before he melts to the floor, himself, in a shuddering heap. Feeling something hard and moist in his hand Light flicks the eyeball from his grasp, not even realizing that he had been holding it all this time. A loud growl came from the floor they had just left; it sounds grumbled and hoarse not at all like the voice that spoke to him from in the closet. Is he Pyramid Head again? Why did the tumor leave in the first place, and how? Was it L? Light looks down at the slumped forward heap in his arms. The elevator let them out at the lobby and with a bit of an adjustment from before, Light piggybacks L toward the exit. He ran quickly across the street to where he had parked in front of Mello's or Matt's apartment. Opening the door, he turns his back to the opening laying the man in the backseat of the car, then climbs behind the wheel locking all doors with the automatic lock on the door panel.

"Don't worry, L, we're getting out of here." The car starts up the street at top speed. Turning on the radio, he hears the crackling from before, its very faint but there all the same.

Even at high speed Light couldn't seem to beat the curfew as the loud siren pierced the sky and one by one the appendageless bodies start to pepper the road all around him, shining in the head lights of the car. He had to turn down the radio as the crackling noise became almost a hard whistle and it was starting to give him a headache. At least Light didn't have the same fears as before- not behind the wheel anyway- and with ease, plowed right over the demons; one managed to roll up the car putting a crack in the windshield with its elbow, but it wasn't enough to stop him from pressing on. In the rearview mirror he can see it wriggling its limbs arching its aching back from the street. The boathouse is just a corner away and the last minute up the street seemed like hours before the car screeched to a hault in front of the building. He didn't bother with closing the door once he exits the front seat, just opened the back and pulled L out. The door was closed but not locked, entering, he sets the man to lay down across a backless bench before rushing to the door, locking it. Seeing that the counter was not attached to anything he presses his back against the side of it, digs his heals in then shoves the counter infront of the door to barracade them in. Light walks over to the bench sitting himself on the floor, leaning his back against the wooden seat.

'What the hell is going on now?' He wonders while trying to calm his heart. 'When did I leave the other apartment?' He looks over at a boat radio that crackles to life, Matt's voice comes over it with the safety announcements. He ignores it, while taking comfort in the fact that someone is out there. 'Am I in the other world? Or am I back in reality?' Removing his cellphone from his pocket, he flips it open then speed dials Near. He has to ask him what he did wrong because he saw Mikami but got nothing out of it. He was so thankful the kid had the foresight to add his number into it when he'd gone to the bathroom at his house. Waiting out the rings, he wonders if its a bad time to call. Did it matter? Look at the situation he's in.

"Hello?"

"Near, I-.."

"Light?"

That voice doesn't sound at all like the dead drawl of the young man, it sounds more like...

"Mikami."

"Hey..." His voice is low, it sounds almost as if he's half asleep. "How did you get this number?"

Light can feel tears welling in his eyes hearing the man's voice, hearing it and knowing that its actually speaking to him. "..." He tried to speak but his voice remained in his throat.

"I miss you, you know." Mikami goes on talking as if he's speaking to himself, like rehersing what he would say to Light had he actually been on the phone. "I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

"It would have..." He heard his voice whisper. Light was almost afraid that if he spoke too much whatever connection this conversation was happening on would disconnect and he would never talk to Mikami again.

"I miss you, you know. I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

Light shakes his head. He doesn't want this weird moment to go on, he wants Mikami to continue speaking to him as he had. "Mikami?"

"I'm sorry, I'm repeating myself." He seems to smile on his end. "How are you?"

"I'm..." He trails off, unsure of how to answer the question.

"I know what you mean, I'm just an 'I'm' too."

There's a brief silence between them, but Light urges the man back. "Please keep talking."

Light knew all the things he should be saying to the man but none of them would come out. He can't break up with Mikami, not over the phone, and he can't end it knowing that he'll send the man off to his next life on that bad note of a break up. God, how can he tell the man he loves that he's dead?

"I put a real headcase behind bars, did you hear about it? It must have been on the news or in the papers back then?"

"I heard." He lied. He knew nothing about that condeming trial up until arriving here.

"Where are you? Do you still live in Kanto?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to go back there someday."

"You should. You should come back with me."

Its quiet a moment. "Where are you right now?"

"Why do you keep asking that?"

A few huffs of laughter come over the phone before the line dies.

Shaken, he's glad he didn't blurt out his location. Who was that? Lowering the phone to the floor, he turns his head to check on L. He's still out cold. Reaching for his neck with index and middle finger he checks the man's vitals, a steady pulse greets his finger tips; relieved, Light stands up going over to the window to look out. The car is in tact; the road it seems is littered with those things only none of them are moving, they're just standing still like twisted freakish trees in concrete. Remembering the last time he was at the boathouse, Light walks to the back door to check if it were secure. If anything is living in the lake, let it stay there.

An hour passed, then a half. Restless, Light walks around the room checking this and looking at that; he removed his shirt tying it around L's bare lap like an apron, he was sure the man would want to keep some dignity between them- if he ever woke up. He found a notepad and pen in the drawer of the counter he'd shoved against the door, fingering them a moment, he takes them out walking them over to the bench. Having a seat on the floor, he places the pad against his bent knees; the journalist had intended to maybe doodle a little bit but instead he found himself writing, one page became two, two became four; Light scribbled things out and tore off sheets, only to write them over with different wording. Its very dark and dank in the building, but there's enough light for the man to see that he isn't running over his words and as for the dank smell, he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding his breath until now. He wrote for hours, not even realizing that the siren had stopped and morning was approaching. His eyelids grew heavy, the eyes themselves dry and strained from writing in the dark but around three he had finished what he was doing, dropping the pad to the floor letting it fall from his aching hands.

A low moan came from the man on the bench; Light turns on his side, expression curious. "L?" He catches his breath seeing the man's hand go up to his forehead to remove his dark bangs from out of his face. Looking down, he sees that L's feet are back in place as well, the blood on his neck remains, drying, but there is no slice there. Its almost as if nothing had ever happened to him at all. Was he in the other world before? If so, when had he gone to sleep? He really should set the alarm on his watch incase these weird sleep walking habits don't stop. In a town like this, its too dangerous.

"Light?"

"Are you ok?" Asks the male, grabbing a hold of the man's hand.

Noticing his surroundings he replies. "I'm fine, but, where are we?"

"The boathouse on Nathan." He scoots himself up to sit on the bench, placing a hand to L's back as the man sits upright.

L made a thoughtful sound before asking. "And what are we doing here?"

'If I tell him the truth, who knows what will come out of it. L may disappear forever.' Hearing what he'd just thought over, he thinks again. 'Isn't that the goal, though, to free him from his suffering- to free all of Silent Hill?' But when he looks at L, that bit of confusion on his handsome face, he can't bring himself to lose him just yet. This is his last day in this town before the reset, he should spend it contacting Near and figuring out how to get to Mikami, as for L...

"You don't remember what happened back at the apartment?"

L's thumb came up to his lips, eyes roll up to the ceiling as he thinks for a moment about the question. "I remember helping you out of the hall window... getting you to have dinner with me..." The next thought made the man smile. "We had sex... after that, I don't remember a thing. Why, what's happened?" He gasps.

Light grabbed the man's face in his hands, pressing their lips together, he kisses L in complete relief that the man is both alright and doesn't remember the horrible thing that his brother had done to him. The advertisor made an appreciative hum during the kiss, speaking when Light's lips move to his throat.

"Am I drunk?" He asked out of thinking it was weird that he didn't recall anything past having sex. That, or Light was just that good.

Light only laughed into the man's mouth, pressing forward so that L lays back on the bench. Moving on top of him, one leg set between the other mans, he let his relief guide his hips to grind into L's groin, groaning slightly when L responded by grinding back. Seeing that his only coverage was a flimsy shirt, his arousal pressed eagerly onto Light's hip, and he shudders like a small earthquake is happening inside of him when a tickling hand smooths its way up L's thigh, the thumb brushing gently against his member. The journalist lifts his hips a bit to set his hand to a better position, so he can latch onto the hot girth and give it some good strong strokes up and down. If the kiss weren't so dizzying L was sure his moan would have been audible from the burning feeling rushing through him from the direct attention to his sex.

L's hands scrape along Light's lower back, dipping just below the waistband of the man's pants. Moving one hand to the front of the jeans, he unfastens them to gain better access inside. Light groaned loudly into L's neck, muttering something in Japanese into the other man's mouth due to L's finger brushing a light trail between his cheeks, and his entrance receiving a little extra strength from the ghosting touch caused his back to arch and hips to rock back into the pressure but it was gone too soon. L is lifted onto Light's lap after the quickest adjustment to his pants is made so that his member is shortly exposed to the world before its steered right into the man's thin body. It amazed Light still that L had muscle mass of any kind considering how the man's frame looks when he's dressed, but underneath is an impressive package. One arm secured around Light's shoulders, the other scooped around the man's lower back, nails dug in deep; L wastes no time bobbing his hips up and down seeking deeper pleasure and getting what he desired and his body jerked suddenly when the surge of rolling fire rushed up his spine again and again at his will.

Light was reduced to a breathless mess; his erection getting the sweetest treatment from L's contracting walls. Loose to tight, loose to tight; it was getting hard to breathe in the dank smelling air that is pleasently being replaced with a rich musky scent of L's leaking head, none-the-less, his panting becomes more shallow and his mouth leaves the kiss in hopes of some air. But L's legs grappling him, closing him within them sent him over the edge taking the man with him as warmth radiated through his body. Their panting hard and heavy they catch their breaths, no words being said in the meantime.

"L, will you come with me?" Asks Light, hand moving through the man's dark hair as if he's trying to comb it with his fingers.

"I don't think I have a choice in the matter." He looks down at the shirt still tied around his waist.

Smiling, Light kisses him on the lips as an apology before freeing himself from the man's hold. "Here, you can take my shorts." He removes his jeans and boxers handing them over to L to wear with his shirt.

The advertisor begins arranging the clothes on his body watching Light, who's moving about the room. "Where are we going?"

"To the police station."

"Why?"

"Its safer there, and you can get some clothes."

"Why not just go back to the apartment?"

"Its not safe. I'd rather you sit with a friend of mine."

Finding that strange, L nods. "Light... I'm sorry about not telling you."

Turning his head at the memory those words held, he waits for the rest hoping that L won't start falling apart again. "About what?"

The man stands walking over to the window next to Light to look out into the empty street. "When I was younger, my brother used to" He thought for a better word and came up with. "be intimate with me."

Light's eye twitched hearing L's choice of wording. It wasn't like that at all. "It doesn't matter." He lied. "You're fine, aren't you?"

"More or less." L nods, glad that Light had taken it so well. Most people who knew have thrown stones. "I thought that I should tell you incase you were wondering about some things." He meant the lack of resistance.

"No. Its personal, private, you didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." It wasn't as if L were waving it as a flag of some sort, he actually sounded pained by the admittance. "Remember when you asked me before, about how I felt about you?"

L nods recalling the sting of not getting an answer.

"Honestly, I think that I'm starting to fall for you; which is why I have to keep you safe."

"From what?"

Ignoring the question he starts to push the counter, getting help from L without asking or gesturing. "There's no time to explain, I just need to do something today then I'll be back on Monday. I promise."

"Alright."

The door is pulled open, all creatures have retreated with the night. He climbs into the front seat, L joins him in the car in the passangers side. As Light drove he kept glancing at L almost to make sure that he was still there. L kept quiet the entire trip into Central, his gaze out the window. Light wonders what he's thinking about while at the same time wonders what he himself is thinking by promising to return after the reset. Didn't he make a promise to himself that he would never return to Silent Hill for as long as he lived. Mello may enjoy the dangers of almost getting stuck here, but Light can't end up like Near. He just can't.

...

The car pulls up at the Central police station around 6:38 a.m. Light reaches across to the glove compartment popping it open to remove one of the two guns hidden within it. A glance at L he caught the male cocking a brow at the weapon.

"For protection." He explained.

"You've gotten paranoid staying here. You do know that."

"I'm not paranoid, you're just blind." He said remembering what Matt had told him about seeing nothing when he was being attacked that first day. "I'll be back, keep the doors locked."

L gave him a skeptical look before he closed the door. He hadn't been five steps passed the car when the passangers door opened. L stepped out giving himself a stretch. Light didn't look the least bit surprised by L's actions but heard himself saying.

"Didn't I say to stay in the car?"

"I know judo; do you think I'm an innocent who can't defend himself?"

Shoulders slumped, he pictures L trying to fend off monsters with fists and flying kicks. Sighing, he turns back to the car opening the passanger door to grab the other gun. "Here. Do you know how to use it?"

L has the handle of the gun pinched between his fingers giving it a quick study. "It doesn't seem too hard, just aim and pull the trigger." He aims and pretends to pull the trigger. "Pow."

Snickering Light shakes his head. If it weren't so damned cute, he'd take the gun back. The last thing he needs is to get shot from a miss-fire. Cautiously, he starts for the station. Beyond the slightly tinted windows he sees eratic movement but its at least from a single person. Looking around he checks the sky for the ashy snow, a ring catches his attention bringing it forward to where L just strolled into the police station. Defeated in his need for caution he calmly walks into the police station.

"Hey Light." Matt waves a hand. "What are you doing here so early?" After scratching his brownish red hair he corrects himself. "Scratch that, what are you doing here at all actually."

Light could sock the man after yesterday, but no, Mello should be his real target as Matt was so far gone he doubted he knew he was even in the room with them. "Matt, I need a favor from you."

"Okay, what?"

"I need you to watch L for me." He nods over to where said man is looking at Wanted posters.

"Excuse me?" He didn't so much turn himself around but his head crooked back to look over his shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I didn't say that. All I want is for you to stay put while I take care of some things today."

"And how long is it that I'm supposed to "stay put"?"

Light can hear the air quotes around his words, watching as L comes over to them. "I don't know, hopefully not long." He can't meet L's dark gaze, choosing to look at Matt instead. "Do you know where Mello is right now?"

"Probably Cafe Mist."

"I know where that is." He recalls it from when L took him for breakfast the morning he'd almost drowned.

"Will you answer me this time? Why do I need to stay here?"

"Because, I don't want you to be alone!" He hadn't meant to shout but he hates when people don't listen. Patience was never his strong suite in the longer run of things he could brush off, especially when it was for something important like this. Calming his tone, though, L hardly seemed fazed by it he says. "I just have to do something, one little thing and I'll be back. I want you to stay here because Matt will keep you company and he's a good guy."

"Its true. I am good company." He nods, beaming from the compliment.

L looks from Light to Matt then moves away from them to continue looking about the station.

"What's this all about? You give up on Mikami, or something?" He looks over Light's shoulder. "He is good looking, though, you sure like guys with black hair don't you. Is that your type or something?"

Light grips Matt's shoulder to get him to focus on something useful. "Here. If I don't come back Monday, please give this to L- no time before." He whispers shoving a piece of folded up paper into the gamer's hand.

"O..kay." He stuffs it into his pocket. "But what are you gonna do in the meantime?"

"I can't tell you, its sort of an unsaid promise because of Mello. But, trust me, its important."

Nodding, he watches L moving about the room. "Listen, we're sorry for yesterday. We sort of thought that you were having a good time or something and Mello wanted to say goodbye to me and we went into the bedroom and by the time we were done, you were gone."

He was pissed at them for not watching his nearly conscious body; from what L told him he could have fallen to his death from the 3 story drop after jumping to the next building, but he could understand their reason as he did a little of that of his own an hour ago. Mello must be a wreck, being in love with someone who isn't a someone anymore and lives in such a dangerous place. One slip-up and its over for you, but in the end you can stay by their side rather than having to go back and forth. Shaking away those sorts of thoughts, he remembers his family back home in Kanto then heads for the door.

"You should wait around here, Mello is going to work today so he'll probably come by. I'd hurry if I were you, though, Mello never sticks around long on a Sunday." He snickers. "Can you believe he buys into the whole tourist attraction of" He wriggles his fingers menacingly. "The Anniversary drawing neeear." He laughs a little more this time. "Light, please don't tell me that you let Mello's paranoia get to you?" He asks looking down at the gun clutched in the journalist's hand.

"He has." L chimes in from the next room.

"I'm not paranoid. I have to go." He walks over to L who's exiting the room. Giving him the briefest kiss, he then turns his attention back to Matt. "Can you find something for him to put on?"

The gamer nods. "Uumm, wouldn't you like a shirt or something too?" He points to the man's bare chest.

Light had forgotten all about that; what a sight he and L must be together. Walking back into the room he waits a moment for Matt to return. Taking the offered black shirt with a S.H.P.D crest on it. L removed the sullied shirt Light had given him, slipping into a pair of sweat pants and the other police shirt Matt brought out. Thanking the gamer Light hurries to the door, side stepping a cop that's coming in. Glad to see that the city is waking up, he climbs into his car wondering where the garbage truck might come in from so that he can flag the blond down. Looking back toward the station he isn't surprised to see a little glowing square get passed off to L from Matt showing off his handheld. That should keep him from wandering too much. He never understood some videogames, though, in his younger years he did own quite a few but those were mostly sports games never anything long. After an hour and fiftteen mintutes of waiting he spots the truck heading toward the bridge. Starting the car he follows closely after him, hoping the man has at least a little White Claudia on him if he has enough balls to smoke the stuff normally. How can he take going to that other world, does it give him some sick kind of rush? Maybe he's just trigger happy and likes the challange. Or maybe a part of him wants to end Matt's suffering but he chickens out each time.

It wasn't until they hit Bachman that Mello pulled the truck to a stop. Looking out the window he seemed to roll his eyes before exiting the car; blue jump suit looking like loose skin on his thin frame. "What is it now? I helped you out, so get lost."

"Be lucky I don't put a bullet in your head!" Light snaps exiting his car as well. "Do you realize that I jumped out of a window to the next building? If L hadn't seen me I could have fallen to my death."

"How is it my fault that you started moving? I tied you down."

"No, you tied me up. And seeing how that turned out, I'm lucky you didn't tie me down because I could have died right there when the ceiling came down into the burning room I woke up in."

Mello's teal eyes widen in shock. "You... saw the fire? Where's Matt?" His tone is concerned and worried that Light had done something stupid. He knows Matt grew up in this town, he was only supposed to be looking for Mikami.

"At the station in Central, he's with L."

The tension leaves him. "So then what do you want? Didn't you find Mikami?"

"I did, but I couldn't talk to him. I came back here to speak with Near and see if he can tell me what I did wrong." He looks down the road to where Levin street is. "Do you have any White Claudia on you?"

"Yeah." He looks light over suspiciously. "Why do you need it?"

"I need to go back." He starts for his car. "This time I will free Mikami of this place, but I need your help getting to the otherside again."

Mello stared after Light's retreating back, then with a roll of his eyes he says a hefty. "Fine. But this is the last time." Walking back to his truck he waits for Light to lead the way to Near's place and follows.

...

"Mistake number one was getting tied up. Mello was it? You could have gotten Light killed by that stupid mistake, but then you didn't really know so it really isn't your fault." He takes a seat on the couch, hand reaching to start up a fire engine that's on the coffee table.

"Who are you calling stupid?" Barks the blond watching the child play with his toy as if he's the only one in the room.

"The mistake." Says Near. "Do you consider yourself a mistake, Mello?" He asks calmly.

Light couldn't help but hide a snicker at the comment. From anyone else it would have come off as an insult, but from Near it just sounded as if he were talking to no one in particular.

Mello grit his teeth, fist balled.

"Did you manage to talk to Mikami?" Near focuses now on Light, seeing as how he'd won round one.

"No. I did see him, though, the place where he died- its in the tower at the bridge."

"Hmm." He intones thoughtfully.

"So, what was the problem."

Near is quiet a moment, then replies. "It seems that Mikami is bound in two places. Here and where you sent him after he'd missed the reset in those three months he was with you in Kanto."

'So he was the one that started the rift between here and there.' Thinks Mello glaring at Light for making his life a living hell with the world growing darker and darker. The time within here and there shortening with each snow fall. Pretty soon the whole damn place will be nothing but a moving cemetery- well, of the worst kind. Seeing them as people will no longer be possible, there will be nothing but chared human's walking the earth, or those creepy headless things in the outskirts. He never understood what went on there and he didn't want to know. Having to clean up dead bodies that appear in trash cans after this Near person frees the soul from this place was enough to keep him busy for months and years. He had always wondered how it were possible for these bodies to show up. Now he knows, but honestly he never expected this kid. He'd seen flyers before about how the people should speak with him, but he just figured the flyers were some sort of reflection of the kids innerself- people wanna look good right? Mello had to mentally slap himself for complimenting the kids looks, his gaze snapping away when he caught Near watching him.

Smirking, the albino child then turns his attention back to Light. "We'll have to recover where his soul drifted to in order to get him back on the right course, once we do that you can speak freely to him, I don't need to tell you about the urgency in the matter. Only say what needs to be said, don't expand your time with him longer than it needs to be."

"I won't." He said, though, inside he felt unsure. He didn't know who the hell he was on the phone with but it left his insides stirring.

Digging into the pocket of his jumpsuit, Mello holds out a white stick to the child. "Here. Its the only one I have so you'd better do this right."

"Thanks. But I won't be needing that. I can get there on my own, and I'll be taking Mr. Yagami with me."

Cocking a brow, Light parts his lips to speak but it seemed that Near was already ahead of him in thought.

"The reason I sent you to them is so that you could take care of the matter on your own; as I told you when we'd spoken before you and I share a gift for seeing spirits, only difference is that we can communicate with them whereas others can't. You, Light Yagami, are a novice and can't manipulate the worlds as I can so I have to help you. The reason I didn't do so in the first place is because I've never tried it with another person before and it may not have worked."

"Its fine and I'm ready to go whenever you can take us there."

Listening quietly, Mello takes that as his insentive to go. "If that's settled then I'm-..."

"No." Near says tightly. "You have to stay here. Mr. Watari, my aid, is gone for the day and I need you to watch our bodies while we're on the otherside. If we look too banged up, you'll have to wake us up manually if I can't find a way to pull out."

The two sit in a dead locked gaze. It was Mello to break contact first, walking over to an arm chair he lounges in it as if it were his own; one leg draped over the arm of the chair, the other leg to the floor, leaving him to look shamelessly splayed out for sex or something close to it. "Just see that he does it this time. Yagami seems as bright as a wet sheet of paper."

"To give paper any intellengence at all leaves your own questionable." Standing from his seat, he stands before Light.

The journalist caught his breath when the child's hands come up to his temples.

"Put your arms around me."

Doing as he's told he wonders out loud. "Will this help?" He felt weird holding onto an eighteen year old that looks like a fourteen year old.

"No. But I don't wanna hit the floor when we cross over." His dark grey eyes close and he breathes in deeply taking in Light's scent of sex, and natural body odor. When his senses and mind are swimming, he can feel his spirit pushing forward from his body.

Mello watches, mouth parted in shock seeing a white mist leave the childs form going into Light's body. How can this be real? If he didn't see half the things he's seen being here, he never would have allowed himself to believe this. When Near's body slammed into Light's both men remain clutched in each others arms, slumped on the couch. It looked like an uncomfortable angle and he wondered about moving them. He needed only to lift Light's leg to lay across the couch anyway and got up to do so, with a grunt he moves the man's legs to rest along the length of the couch, the young boy's body moved right along with the action. He looked like a father sleeping with his child in his arms. He takes his place back on the armchair, candy bar pulled from his pocket to be eaten as he waits. He only hoped this little trip didn't take long.

** ** **

Light's eyes scrunch before opening. Looking around a room colored in the moon's blue he sees that he's in the apartment and alone. Sitting up of his own will he lets out a relieved breath but when he tries to stand the room spins dropping him back onto the bed, a hand holding the side of his head.

"Light, where are you?"

Near sounded weird when his voice is semi-shouting. It sounds as if he's in L's apartment. "Near, I'm in here- across the hall." He calls back.

Foot steps are heard in the main room of the apartment before the bedroom door opens. The male seemed happy to see him as he walks over to the bed.

"I feel like my mind is swimming in paste."

"It passes. Until then, stay close to me," He takes Light's hand. "I can't have you leaving before we get anywhere with this." He starts for the door.

Curious, Light asks. "Near, are you in L's spirit?"

"I'm in no one's spirit, neither are you- that's how the gift works." He looks around in the main room, his dark gaze casting over to this shadow and that as if looking for something. "I think the only reason I ended up at this 'L' person's place is because I smelled him on you before bringing us here."

Light looked hot with guilt but Near let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm not judging you, Light, feelings are fickle, do whatever you want with them. My only concern is the issue at hand."

They start for the exit to the hall; hands still clasped.

"You've encountered Pyramid Head more than me, have you found any weaknesses to help us get rid of him?"

Light thinks for a moment. "It isn't exactly easy to look for weaknesses on a person who's trying to kill you." He then adds. "I did manage to pull one of his eyes out, though."

"Then bullets will work on him. Where's the gun you were carrying when we came here?"

"Still in the bedroom." He figures when he feels that his free hand isn't holding it. "I'll get it, my headache seems to be leaving, anyhow." Releasing the boy's hand he starts across the room.

He heard a strange sort of groan or creak before having to fall back onto his butt from the large sword coming up through the floor in front of him. Quickly, Light scoots away before the thing came slamming down over his head to split him down the middle and it instead sliced through the floor. Near watched, bewildered at the scene, as the sword came up again and again anywhere Light seemed to move. Pyramid Head must be in the apartment below them!

"Light sit still, he can hear where you're moving to!" He calls to the man who's trying his hardest to escape the deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

"Easier said than done!" He slams his back against the wall, finally managing to stand up.

The sword came up one last time before the onslaught stilled. A weird sound like snorting caught their ears then. The sword came up three times in random places, once before Near, who turned his head shuddering in elated fear that the man retracted the sword rather than taking a slice with it. The clogged sniffing sounds again then quiets completely.

"Is he gone?" Near asks; breathing a little heavier then he would have liked for it to be.

"I doubt it. He may be looking for the apartment we're in. Near-.." He calls after the boy when he darts across the room towards the kitchen. "What are you doing?" He asks when he hears a drawer sliding open on its track.

"You can't be the only one with a weapon; its up to both of us to kill him."

"No, you should stay hidden somewhere. You're better at this than I am, you can still save Mikami for me."

"I didn't come here to stop existing, Light, I came to help you free another victim of this place. What makes you think that if you were to die that I could handle this on my own?" He walks out of the kitchen holding the largest knife he could find in the drawer. "We're in this together."

Their heads whip towards the door.

"That's him. Hide in the closet."

"I already said that-.."

"I'm not telling you to stay out of it, I just think it would be easier for you to sneak up on him then to directly assalt him." He mentions while nodding at the gun in his hand. "Now hurry!"

Skeptical, Near crosses the room, hiding in the coat closet; the door remains cracked so that he can watch for an opportunity to strike. He's never been one to submit to many emotions so he wasn't about to start now. He can't let himself be afraid; the unpredictability of where fires will start, or flaming projectiles will land was a high enough risk, but most of those were residual and easy to avoid after he's been enough times. B is an intellegent haunting doing as he wishes with whatever or whomever comes his way. But that's no excuse, fear will only make him slow and careless. He and Light can do this. Readjusting his grip on the knife, he quiets his breathing.

The door slamming in caused both men to jump our of their skin from start. Light points the gun at the door waiting for the man to come in; B is slow with that sword in his hand, getting a good shot in should be no problem. But his plans take an unexpected turn as he falls hard onto his side to avoid the large weapon that came whizzing into the room like an arrow; it stabbed into the wall going two feet through before it held there. As B trudged into the room, a battle howl shrieked from his lump covered mouth. Light planned to open fire right then but another unexpected turn came as Mikami emerged from his bedroom; an ax in hand, he swings it through the air right into the madman's neck. Light recalls the dream he had when he'd first stayed in the apartment; Mikami did exactly the same thing he had then. Did he come across the man and attempt to kill him as well? What happened that he didn't? Mikami vanished in a clap of smoke, as if he were nothing more than a mirage. Recovering from his muddled state, Light aims the gun from where he is on the floor. The shot fired off, the bullet landing in B's chest causing him to stagger back a step but he pressed forward towards him.

Taking three more shots, Light gets up from the floor when Pyramid Head drops to his bleeding knee. It didn't detain him for long, though. His hand grips the handle of his sword and in one swift jerk he pulls it from the wall. Near watches for a chance, presuming that when B goes to work his large weapon he can strike then, but B whipped the thing gracefully, it looked no heavier than if he were to swing his own arm through the air. But the damage its doing is definitely not that of a hand slapping about and everything touched is being easily crushed or sliced in two. He's practically bringing down the entire apartment! All Light can do is dodge, no clear shots are left open for him.

Near heard the groan before Light, and ran from the closet for the door. "Light, the floor!" He calls in to him.

Light didn't need it any clearer than that as he hurries towards the hall, but its a little too late as the floor caves in taking him and B with it. The two of them lay in the broken rubble and dust. Light was the first to recover but when he tries to move he cries out in pain. Pulling a nail from his arm by yanking the board its stuck to away from him, he holds his hand to the hole to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Looking up through the hole at the floor he'd fallen from, he sees that Near is gone. A few pained whimpers come from him as his pained legs try to stand.

"Ugh!" His head slams back onto the broken pile covering the floor from a punch he'd just received. Light can feel B's weight drop down over his body as he straddles his hips, the man's hands wrap firmly around his neck. Just when Light thinks that he's going to be strangled to death, one hand lets go and starts to pull at his face beneath his eye!

"Eeeeye fooor eeeye." Growls the man; the tip of his tumor touching Light's chin due to the length of it.

Light let out a desparate scream when the man's fingernail caught under his eye.

...

Mello is staring in horror at the blood staining Light's arm, he's even more shocked by the tear of blood running down from the man's closed left eye. He reached out to shake them, wake them up. After all he had agreed to watch them, but maybe they were handling things but its a little rough and tumble right now. Last thing he wanted was more lip from the brat and angst from the grieving journalist. Better to just leave them alone.

Light bucked and struggled to get free, his head tossing left and right to keep the man from pulling his eye from its socket. He heard the foot steps before Pyramid Head and squeezed his eyes shut when a large boil was plunged clean through by the knife Near weilded, having it burst open. Blood and puss sprayed over both of them, moreso when Near moved the knife in a zig-zag to cause further injury until he was bashed away; knocking into the wall, the younger male coiled in on himself. Ducking his head when B came over and jerked him to his feet by the front of his shirt. He waited for further pain to come but the male seemed only to stare at him. His eyes raised before his dipped head came up to meet the man's, or whatever's, gaze directly. B's body began to shake, Near's shirt released dropping him to the floor. He tried to run but he's slammed into the wall with a hand to his forehead to pin him there. The tumor around B's head slowly receeded back into his brain revealing the man he was before darkness engulfed him.

"L." He whispered while pressing himself into Near.

The teen shook his head at what the man said, left surprised when B's arms wrap around him bringing him to his knees with him. What the hell was going on? Is he having an episode? Light watched in the distance, knowing exactly what was going on. He had always thought that Near and L's dead gaze was similar and in the darkness, all covered in blood Near's hair honestly does look black. B must see his brother in the male.

"Y-..yes B, i-..its me." Mutters Near more in confusion than fear.

The man laughed manically. "I thought you had died. I thought that I killed you but... you're here."

Light's eyes flashed hearing the man's laughter. It was the same as the one he'd heard over the phone when he thought he was talking to Mikami.

"Let's go home, B." Near continued to lie, though, in truth he sounded nothing like L. He lacked L's wonder and mock, Near was simply deadpan.

The creature nods before standing. With Near out of the way, it gave Light the perfect chance for the perfect shot and with the gun to the back of the man's head, he fired. The scream could have shook the building as B's right eye was blown out from the back. Near cried out as well, dropping down to the floor holding his leg. Light had no time to tend to the boy's wound, he had to finish the blind killer off. B staggered away from Near, again stun making him dig in the hole within his head and the tumor started to return in slow pulsating growths. But Light wasn't about to let the man's strength return and with every ounce of energy he had left he charged at him shoving him with his shoulder knocking him through the window. Hearing the grunts of pain, Light hurries to Near's side.

"Are you alright?"

"The bullet grazed my leg, I don't think I can walk on it. Nevermind me, though, check to see if he's dead. Hurry!"

Going over to the window, almost losing his footing from the loose floorboards, Light looks down at the street. He expected the man to be gone, to already be on his way back up to the apartment, but there he lay. Beyond Birthday... Dineas Elliot... dying in the street, head split open in the back and spine busted keeping his limbs from moving even if he wanted them too. And after two hard breaths, the man smiled and lay still.

...

Light has Near piggybacked to help him move around faster. They're in the hall of the apartment building wondering how to get to old town sooner than later. Its dark outside, that much they know, but the time is off everywhere anyhow so its hard to say exactly when the accident will truly happen.

"One of these doors should take us to old town, or close enough to it." Near says over his shoulder.

"That's impossible." Light starts for the elevator.

"No. Where we are is considered 'nowhere'. This isn't like going to the other world with the White Claudia, I've brought us here on spiritual energy coming from everywhere, which makes the air nothing but large portals. Do you understand?"

"I can... Whereas with the herb I'm brought to this world as it exist, but with your gift its the entire world we're in rather than a borrowed energy from a soul."

"You catch on quick, Light." Looking around the hall, he points to a door. "Let's try that one over there. We have to hurry from the apartment, we may have helped Mikami escape, but B isn't really gone, as long as there's someone that fears him, he'll only keep coming back."

"Okay.." He starts toward apartment 202 but pauses. His gaze catches sight of a pale blur heading into 204. It looked... it looked like Mikami. "Did you see that?"

Looking around, Near shakes his head.

"We should go this way, it may sound weird but, I think I just saw Mikami go in." He's walking two doors down. "He may be trying to guide us."

It didn't seem impossible, strange, but not impossible. Light and Mikami have some sort of connection, and it must be projecting even without the deceased man having any knowledge of it. Light opens the door. It looked like a regular apartment room, that is until he stepped through it. The room was moving suddenly, and there was music playing. No they're not in a room they're...

"We're at the amusement park." Near looks around them as the merry-go-round turned them in a full circle on repeat.

"How can we be...?" His words trail off when Near speaks again.

"The shifting worlds, Light. Nevermind that, though, do you see Mikami again?"

Looking around as far as his vision expands, but he saw no sign of the man. Walking forward, careful to step lively so that they wouldn't fall over from the spinning machine, he heads towards the stairs stepping down them swiftly. He didn't need to be told to keep a sharp eye out for Mikami, he was just glad that the machines and signs and things lit the place up. The darkness in the apartment was concerning and frightening, way to easy for something horrible to hide away in. But here, he can see everything, which is how he saw.

"What are those?"

"They're the victims who died here. Unlike with the herb, they're seen as they are on this side- avoid them, Light" There's sudden panic in Near's tone. "these souls have the ability to posses you and its nearly impossible not to follow them to their death."

"Right."

Light moves quickly but carefully through the invisible mob, it was hard for him to simply sprint to the next ride for a bit of safety due to the fact that one minute he would be walking a clear path then one would simply appear out of nowhere in front of them. A loud whiff cut through the air right before an explosive boom.

"Its starting." Near looks into the sky.

Screams are heard all around them, man, woman, and child; the dark mist began running about frantically. Light watches his steps but one of the people ran through him, regardless. The feeling was cold, fearful, and staggering. He almost fell to his knees from the pain and fear running through him, but Near's voice snapped him out of it.

"Light, let's move! Its not safe here."

More explosions rack through the sky above them, some large pieces scatter about the area breaking the machines and cracking small holes in the ground.

"I have to find my son first! He went to the restroom..."

Near cocked a thin brow, then dug his finger into the small hole in the journalist's arm.

"Aaaa!" The physical pain cut through any haunt that possessed his body, and with urgency he stands rushing off. "Keep your finger in my arm! I'm gonna cut through." He cried out again as the teen's finger dug a little further. But he withheld the rest of his pained yells. Making his ways around the park, watching out only for the large burning pieces of metal or concrete, he managed to get onto a booth by the ferris wheel. Looking out over the, due to the damage its taking, slowly darkening park. "Over there!" He points before running off in the direction of a machine with flying elephants. It wasn't easy to see the holes being made in the ground but luckily they made it over without Light stumbling too much. Climbing the four stairs he opens the little gate onto the ride and the two have a drop painfully to the ground.

Gritting his teeth, he reaches behind him shoving Near off of his back. "You can stop poking me now." He applies pressure to his wounded arm. Looking around he asks. "Where are we?"

A loud boom sounds from overhead.

"I think we're in the sewers." He replies after taking a deep whiff. Feeling the ground shake; sounds of crumpling bits of rock following, Near stands up only to kneel back down. He had no idea getting shot hurt so much- even from a graze!

"Are you alright? You're leg is still bothering you?"

"Yes. But it's not important right now, besides, I'll only feel it when I'm here, once we get back the pain will be gone."

It didn't exactly make Light feel any better about it, but he nods. "I'm sorry that I shot you."

"It was an accident from the bullet exiting Pyramid Head, its not a big deal."

"It doesn't mean I don't feel guilty over it." He reaches out tousling the kids hair like he was his younger sister. "Near, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. But talk as we move, we don't wanna get crushed down here." Standing, he leans heavily against a wall. Muck and dampness greet his palm. Making a face of distaste, he starts forward.

"Here, I can still carry you." Standing in front of Near he crouches down. "Come on. I really don't mind."

Climbing back onto Light's back he rest his cheek against Light's shoulder. Being here with two people really is taking a lot out of him, he's more tired then he would have given thought to. "So what is it that you wanted to know?"

"Its... you know how my keeping Mikami from being here caused a crack in this place?" He could feel Near nod, his cheek brushing his shoulder. "Well, I was wondering if it would be the same if I took someone out."

"You mean this L person you've grown fond of."

"...Yeah."

"You could remove him, but can you live with a ghost Light? Live with someone who doesn't know they're dead, someone who will be virtually invisible to nearly all the world? Do you really think he could handle a life of solitude with you?"

"L's had it hard growing up, he was invisible anyway unless someone was insulting him because of his brother. I don't think that L would mind at all."

"Hm." Near could only smirk at the man's resolve. "You're strange, Light Yagami. I've never met anyone like you before."

"How so?"

"You generally care about someone even when you're using them, its strange."

Light didn't believe that to be true, but then Near has only known what he's shown to him so he can see how the profit would come to that state of mind. "So is there a way?"

"Yes. You have to find L's soul and get possessed by him, once you've accomplished that you can walk out of here and he'll go right along with you."

"Its that simple?"

"If by 'simple' you mean to tell me that you can override all of L's thoughts and feelings to live as you are now, while having his soul bound to you, than yes," He shifts a bit during a turn around a corner. "it is that simple."

"All of L, I have to consume."

"Yes."

Light thinks quietly as they make their way to a patch of light coming from what they hope is a manhole. "I can do it, that's what a relationship is based on, right? Just tell me how."

"Later, once we get out of here."

"Okay."

"May I ask you a question, Light?" He asks when seeing a nod. "How can you love a ghost?"

"Honestly, I don't look at him as a ghost. I can see him, and touch him; L makes me smile. I wouldn't care if I imagined him, I think I'd love him either way." After a thought he adds. "Even if, as you say, emotions are fickle. As long as it isn't in the same period of time, you can love as many people as you like." Looking up at the lights overhead that cut in and out, he kneels down. "Can you climb? I'll be behind you if you feel yourself falling, but try to make it out quickly if you can so the injury doesn't get worse."

"You don't have to tell me that." He starts up the cold metal ladder, allowing his injured leg to lag a bit in stepping up the rung.

Light comes up behind him. The two brace themselves steady when a rumble shakes the ground above them. When the ground steadies, Light climbs a bit higher up to shove at the manhole cover. Pushing it aside he waits for Near to climb out then joins him on the street of old town.

"Damn it." He mutters.

"What is it?"

"The house has already collapsed, Mikami is on his way to the tower." Waiting for Near to climb onto his back he starts off for the bridge, hoping the fastest route there hasn't caved in yet. Light is winded shortly, breaths coming in and out hard and steady.

"If I'm slowing you down then leave me here, I'll be fine."

"No. I'm fine carrying you; I'm just pushing myself because we're running out of time." Feeling that his breaths are caught, he starts off again. It was almost as if his senses have been down-sized being here this way, unlike his borrowing a soul to come where every scent of ash and burned skin suffocated his lungs. He really needs to learn that hot-wire trick of Matt's, this trip would have gone a lot better.

By the time Light reached the bridge his entire body was on fire with raw nerves on the verge of breaking down from being pushed too hard.

"The rest is up to you, you only need to talk to him and he'll listen." Letting his body slip from Light's hold, Near grabs onto the railing for support.

Light races up the stairs of the tower, pulling the door open quickly. "Mikami!"

Turning his head the man looks shocked and confused. "Light... what are you doing here?"

Panting, Light crosses the short distance pulling Mikami into his arms. It felt so good to hold him again he was almost in tears but instead starts to laugh.

Smiling, he holds Light back. "I'm happy to see you too, but now isn't the time for a happy reunion, the town, maybe even the whole city is about to go up in flames." He turns the key to lower the bridge. "We have to get out of here."

Shaking his head, Light keeps his hold on the man, shrinking to the floor. "You don't have to worry about anything anymore."

"What are you talking about?" His voice is growing nervous hearing how close the landing sites are getting to where he is. "Didn't you see what was going on, something is causing explosions and-..."

"Ssshhh." He strokes the back of the man's head. "Listen to me... do you remember when the two of us were together?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember having these weird moments where you would feel like you needed to be somewhere else?"

Mikami thought it over, though, it was hard to concentrate with all the chaos blowing up around them. "I think so."

"The reason you were so restless, the reason that you had to come back here is because you're..." He sighs in frustration. There has to be an easier way to go about telling someone that they're dead. "Mikami... I can't find a lesser way to say this other than to just tell you but..."

Near watches the tower on pins and needles. 'Come on, Light. I told you not to hesitate.'

Eyes wide in disbelief, the lawyer shakes his head. "I'm... I'm dead... but how? I feel fine... I..." He trails off in thoughtful disbelief.

Light nods slowly. "You died here, years ago, before you and I met... you died while trying to save all these people."

"But how is that possible? This hasn't happened before, you're insane!"

"I wish there was a better explanation to how it all works but... you're duty to this place, this recycled hell, is over." He can hear Near calling to him. "Mikami... I don't know how you managed to be with me but we were together and those were some of the best days of my life. It isn't any easier for me to say goodbye to you then it is for you to understand that you're gone." He looks at the man as if to memorize his face. "Please believe me." He touches the man's cheek gently.

"But I don't wanna die." Mikami begins to tear up; his chest puffing in and out rapidly from dry sobs. "I don't wanna die!" He shouts in hysterics.

Wrapping his arms around the man, he pulls him into his chest. "It won't hurt, I promise." Though he has no guaruntee of that statement he has to believe it.

"Come with me- come with me! We can go together!" He tries to move from Light's grasp but he remains pinned.

"I can't go with you, but I can take you with me, Mikami... I can remember you."

He can feel the man nodding into his chest, muffled sniffles sound now and then.

"Light, let's go!" Shouts Near.

"Please remember me."

"I will. Always." Light nods.

Mikami swallows hard when his body starts to feel lighter; he can see a bright Light surrounding him. Light can too, though his is more orange then white.

"Light!" Near practically screamed.

...

Near jumped from his unconscious state and violently starts beating on Light's knocked out body. "Light, wake up! Wake up!"

Mello is roused from his sleep, seeing that its nearing dark or maybe its been dark for a while. "What's going on?"

"Something happened, Light might be stuck. Help me wake him up."

"No. Do you know what time it is? Yagami is on his own."

"Then take him with you when you leave. He can't get stuck here- go now!"

Sick of being bossed around by a child, he rolled his eyes as he caught himself gathering the man up from the couch, with help from the younger male. If he gets stuck here he'll see to it that both of their souls return to the world so he'll, hopefully, never see either of them again.

The sirens blaring overhead, the air is thick with ash as they cross the yard swiftly to get to Light's car. At this point it will move a lot faster than a garbage truck. Pulling a handgun from the waistband of his pants, he fires at a dog rushing their way and keeps his eyes peeled while loading the man into the backseat.

"Do you need a ride?" He snaps when closing the door of the drivers seat.

"Don't bother with me, just get him out of here." Near watches the car head up the street. They may make it out, but Near doubted it. He really did.

One month later.

Car tires screech somewhere in the distance. The sound of walking can be heard from everywhere outside as people busy themselves with whatever task it is that has them outside on such a hot day. But not Light, he has the day off from work and he plans to spend it at home reading the newspaper and drinking a nice glass of iced tea. He wonders how the construction project has been going, and flips through the paper to see if there was any news on it.

The bedroom door opens wider than he'd left it causing the journalist to smile. Mikami is dead, gone, and probably reborn as a baby by now. He'll never forget that day in the tower as the ceiling came crashing down and yet somehow he lived. It had been Mikami after all taking care of him, loving him one last time. He woke up in the next state, in Mello's real apartment and from the man he received a nice black eye for giving him more grief then he'd ever needed in his life. But he was alive, he was glad that both of them were. Light, for all he'd wanted and said and did could not bring himself to go back into that nightmare of a place. He only hoped that Matt had done what he'd asked of him so that L would be free as well.

When the seat sank in next to him, Light couldn't help but copy the words he's heard every time the two of them got together to have their meal and do their thing. "Dinner was good, I only half wish that I could have at least tasted it." And he smiles at the left over bits of Mikami that drift around his home from the residual he left behind when they were together: cabinets opening, doors, or sometimes he would hear the man laugh as a glass of wine would just fall over on its own like that time when the man wanted another glass but was too drunk to do something as simple as picking it up. Little things that after another month, then another had stopped happening as well leaving Light with nothing but his memories.


	8. Ending Two: Near

B elovates his brother's leg into the air, a hard grip on the older male's thigh to do so, and with all his strength shoves himself deeper into L's body. Pounding into him over and over the coughed and sputtered grunts of L fill his ears calming the pain in his head. He blinks down at his brother, a busted smile spreads across his face and he leans over a bit to place kisses onto the pale cheek that's exposed to him. He can hear his brother whisper something to him along the lines of "don't" but then L could have said anything right now and he wouldn't really understand it. He's not much farther from release when he hears something rattling in the closet. Turning his head he stalks over without a second thought to see what had caused the out of place sound. Grabbing the knob he hears a yelp, instead of flinging the door open, he milks a bit more fear from the hidden mouse that chose the wrong time to let out a yelp. His red eye gazes through the crack setting its sight upon a man, he's seen this man before wandering the building one day. He left him alone, sure that he would be too frightened to run off anywhere, he would definitely be back for him just like all the other stray dogs that end up in his part of town. It was like a sign, a devine sign sent from the heavens that told him what night was perfect to take the world as his meal. Booms were heard in the distance like some hard drum of a heartbeat that night and the booms whispered just as the voice whispered, and the world sang to him as he ravaged the outskirts of Silent Hill clean; or rather, as he intended to. He can't be sure what happened after he went to see his brother... One minute they were talking about something, L laughed at some nonsense that came out of his mouth and the next thing he knew he was fucking his brother. L seemed to like it, he didn't tell him to leave, if he had he hadn't heard him. Dineas Elliot was slowly losing his hearing as the pains in his head grew throughout the years, he jisted and smiled at whatever unheard was said to him. It wasn't as if anyone actually ever spoke to him or his brother anyway- well, they did speak but it was always some curse or rude thing so he just shut them out. The only voice he heard or cared about was Lawliet's.

Which is why when he caught himself decapitating his only loved one, he freaked out and ran away to hide somewhere; the urge to kill was still so strong, though, but after he ran out he has no clue what happened or when his hearing started to return; everyday is a fog of nothing, except for these few fleeting moments of clarity and sanity between the two of them and now some stranger has decided to ruin it. He will pay, dearly. "I see youuuuu." The freaked out little mouse breathed out in a frightened staggered breath but what happened next B was not expecting. The tip of a fingernail came straight pass his eyelids not pausing for a second; there's a low sucking sound, before the finger successfully moves above the eye and behind it. Beyond grunted in start as his vision blurred before losing sight of the left side of the room all together.

Light turned his head as quickly as he could to avoid being hit with the blood that spurts out from the vein snapping to empty the socket, but is a bit too slow getting some in his mouth and the corner of his eye; he blinks away the pain of the foreign liquid there, bursting from the closet, the door bashes into B knocking him down. He's making pained, almost frightened laughs of disbelief that his eye has been removed, and he wriggles and writhes on the floor trying to regain some composure over the immense pain. Light's first intention was to leave and never look back but his legs take him over to the bed where L lay either dead or unconscious, whichever it may be, he's not going to leave him alone with this sicko. Lifting him, he throws him over his shoulder carrying the nude body from the bedroom into the main room of the apartment.

"L, stop it, its me!" He says when the man's limbs begin to flail; his knee almost giving Light a good jab in the ribs but he places a hand on L's thigh to stop it.

Hearing his voice seemed to calm him down as the movement stopped, making him easier to run with. B's sword caught Light's attention; the cool metal shines in the dim moonlight as if asking to be taken and thoughts of doing just that play through his brain as he passes by. He'd have to find another way to do it because if he's gonna get out of here before the siren sounds and the barriers come down locking him in the room with this man, he can't waste time by carrying a possible corpse and a very heavy looking object; besides, he only has ten minutes to get out of the place, into his car, and to the boathouse. He would have slammed the door closed behind him but B had broken it in when he entered. Grabbing the knob to Mikami's apartment he pushes the door open a good crack in hopes to get the mad man's attention and send him in the wrong direction as they make their escape. He then looks up the hall then down wondering if he should take the stairwell or the elevator. The thing just had to be running. Going over to the glowing button, he taps it rapidly waiting for the the doors to open. Even in the distance you can hear a door slam into a wall hard enough to take the wall out rather than simply leave a hole in it, but judging by the thickness to it, it was the bedroom door.

Light was relieved when the doors open with a 'ding' allowing them entrance. He pressed the button for the lobby and when the doors close he lowers L, so that he's holding the man to his chest before he melts to the floor, himself, in a shuddering heap. Feeling something hard and moist in his hand Light flicks the eyeball from his grasp, not even realizing that he had been holding it all this time. A loud growl came from the floor they had just left; it sounds grumbled and hoarse not at all like the voice that spoke to him from in the closet. Is he Pyramid Head again? Why did the tumor leave in the first place, and how? Was it L? Light looks down at the slumped forward heap in his arms. The elevator let them out at the lobby and with a bit of an adjustment from before, Light piggybacks L toward the exit. He ran quickly across the street to where he had parked in front of Mello's or Matt's apartment. Opening the door, he turns his back to the opening laying the man in the backseat of the car, then climbs behind the wheel locking all doors with the automatic lock on the door panel.

"Don't worry, L, we're getting out of here." The car starts up the street at top speed. Turning on the radio, he hears the crackling from before, its very faint but there all the same.

Even at high speed Light couldn't seem to beat the curfew as the loud siren pierced the sky and one by one the appendageless bodies start to pepper the road all around him, shining in the head lights of the car. He had to turn down the radio as the crackling noise became almost a hard whistle and it was starting to give him a headache. At least Light didn't have the same fears as before- not behind the wheel anyway- and with ease, plowed right over the demons; one managed to roll up the car putting a crack in the windshield with its elbow, but it wasn't enough to stop him from pressing on. In the rearview mirror he can see it wriggling its limbs arching its aching back from the street. The boathouse is just a corner away and the last minute up the street seemed like hours before the car screeched to a hault in front of the building. He didn't bother with closing the door once he exits the front seat, just opened the back and pulled L out. The door was closed but not locked, entering, he sets the man to lay down across a backless bench before rushing to the door, locking it. Seeing that the counter was not attached to anything he presses his back against the side of it, digs his heals in then shoves the counter infront of the door to barracade them in. Light walks over to the bench sitting himself on the floor, leaning his back against the wooden seat.

'What the hell is going on now?' He wonders while trying to calm his heart. 'When did I leave the other apartment?' He looks over at a boat radio that crackles to life, Matt's voice comes over it with the safety announcements. He ignores it, while taking comfort in the fact that someone is out there. 'Am I in the other world? Or am I back in reality?' Removing his cellphone from his pocket, he flips it open then speed dials Near. He has to ask him what he did wrong because he saw Mikami but got nothing out of it. He was so thankful the kid had the foresight to add his number into it when he'd gone to the bathroom at his house. Waiting out the rings, he wonders if its a bad time to call. Did it matter? Look at the situation he's in.

"Hello?"

"Near, I-.."

"Light?"

That voice doesn't sound at all like the dead drawl of the young man, it sounds more like...

"Mikami."

"Hey..." His voice is low, it sounds almost as if he's half asleep. "How did you get this number?"

Light can feel tears welling in his eyes hearing the man's voice, hearing it and knowing that its actually speaking to him. "..." He tried to speak but his voice remained in his throat.

"I miss you, you know." Mikami goes on talking as if he's speaking to himself, like rehersing what he would say to Light had he actually been on the phone. "I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

"It would have..." He heard his voice whisper. Light was almost afraid that if he spoke too much whatever connection this conversation was happening on would disconnect and he would never talk to Mikami again.

"I miss you, you know. I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

Light shakes his head. He doesn't want this weird moment to go on, he wants Mikami to continue speaking to him as he had. "Mikami?"

"I'm sorry, I'm repeating myself." He seems to smile on his end. "How are you?"

"I'm..." He trails off, unsure of how to answer the question.

"I know what you mean, I'm just an 'I'm' too."

There's a brief silence between them, but Light urges the man back. "Please keep talking."

Light knew all the things he should be saying to the man but none of them would come out. He can't break up with Mikami, not over the phone, and he can't end it knowing that he'll send the man off to his next life on that bad note of a break up. God, how can he tell the man he loves that he's dead?

"I put a real headcase behind bars, did you hear about it? It must have been on the news or in the papers back then?"

"I heard." He lied. He knew nothing about that condeming trial up until arriving here.

"Where are you? Do you still live in Kanto?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to go back there someday."

"You should. You should come back with me."

Its quiet a moment. "Where are you right now?"

"Why do you keep asking that?"

A few huffs of laughter come over the phone before the line dies.

Shaken, he's glad he didn't blurt out his location. Who was that? Lowering the phone to the floor, he turns his head to check on L. He's still out cold. Reaching for his neck with index and middle finger he checks the man's vitals, a steady pulse greets his finger tips; relieved, Light stands up going over to the window to look out. The car is in tact; the road it seems is littered with those things only none of them are moving, they're just standing still like twisted freakish trees in concrete. Remembering the last time he was at the boathouse, Light walks to the back door to check if it were secure. If anything is living in the lake, let it stay there.

An hour passed, then a half. Restless, Light walks around the room checking this and looking at that; he removed his shirt tying it around L's bare lap like an apron, he was sure the man would want to keep some dignity between them- if he ever woke up. He found a notepad and pen in the drawer of the counter he'd shoved against the door, fingering them a moment, he takes them out walking them over to the bench. Having a seat on the floor, he places the pad against his bent knees; the journalist had intended to maybe doodle a little bit but instead he found himself writing, one page became two, two became four; Light scribbled things out and tore off sheets, only to write them over with different wording. Its very dark and dank in the building, but there's enough light for the man to see that he isn't running over his words and as for the dank smell, he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding his breath until now. He wrote for hours, not even realizing that the siren had stopped and morning was approaching. His eyelids grew heavy, the eyes themselves dry and strained from writing in the dark but around three he had finished what he was doing, dropping the pad to the floor letting it fall from his aching hands.

A low moan came from the man on the bench; Light turns on his side, expression curious. "L?" He catches his breath seeing the man's hand go up to his forehead to remove his dark bangs from out of his face. Looking down, he sees that L's feet are back in place as well, the blood on his neck remains, drying, but there is no slice there. Its almost as if nothing had ever happened to him at all. Was he in the other world before? If so, when had he gone to sleep? He really should set the alarm on his watch incase these weird sleep walking habits don't stop. In a town like this, its too dangerous.

"Light?"

"Are you ok?" Asks the male, grabbing a hold of the man's hand.

Noticing his surroundings he replies. "I'm fine, but, where are we?"

"The boathouse on Nathan." He scoots himself up to sit on the bench, placing a hand to L's back as the man sits upright.

L made a thoughtful sound before asking. "And what are we doing here?"

'If I tell him the truth, who knows what will come out of it. L may disappear forever.' Hearing what he'd just thought over, he thinks again. 'Isn't that the goal, though, to free him from his suffering- to free all of Silent Hill?' But when he looks at L, that bit of confusion on his handsome face, he can't bring himself to lose him just yet. This is his last day in this town before the reset, he should spend it contacting Near and figuring out how to get to Mikami, as for L...

"You don't remember what happened back at the apartment?"

L's thumb came up to his lips, eyes roll up to the ceiling as he thinks for a moment about the question. "I remember helping you out of the hall window... getting you to have dinner with me..." The next thought made the man smile. "We had sex... after that, I don't remember a thing. Why, what's happened?" He gasps.

Light grabbed the man's face in his hands, pressing their lips together, he kisses L in complete relief that the man is both alright and doesn't remember the horrible thing that his brother had done to him. The advertisor made an appreciative hum during the kiss, speaking when Light's lips move to his throat.

"Am I drunk?" He asked out of thinking it was weird that he didn't recall anything past having sex. That, or Light was just that good.

Light only laughed into the man's mouth, pressing forward so that L lays back on the bench. Moving on top of him, one leg set between the other mans, he let his relief guide his hips to grind into L's groin, groaning slightly when L responded by grinding back. Seeing that his only coverage was a flimsy shirt, his arousal pressed eagerly onto Light's hip, and he shudders like a small earthquake is happening inside of him when a tickling hand smooths its way up L's thigh, the thumb brushing gently against his member. The journalist lifts his hips a bit to set his hand to a better position, so he can latch onto the hot girth and give it some good strong strokes up and down. If the kiss weren't so dizzying L was sure his moan would have been audible from the burning feeling rushing through him from the direct attention to his sex.

L's hands scrape along Light's lower back, dipping just below the waistband of the man's pants. Moving one hand to the front of the jeans, he unfastens them to gain better access inside. Light groaned loudly into L's neck, muttering something in Japanese into the other man's mouth due to L's finger brushing a light trail between his cheeks, and his entrance receiving a little extra strength from the ghosting touch caused his back to arch and hips to rock back into the pressure but it was gone too soon. L is lifted onto Light's lap after the quickest adjustment to his pants is made so that his member is shortly exposed to the world before its steered right into the man's thin body. It amazed Light still that L had muscle mass of any kind considering how the man's frame looks when he's dressed, but underneath is an impressive package. One arm secured around Light's shoulders, the other scooped around the man's lower back, nails dug in deep; L wastes no time bobbing his hips up and down seeking deeper pleasure and getting what he desired and his body jerked suddenly when the surge of rolling fire rushed up his spine again and again at his will.

Light was reduced to a breathless mess; his erection getting the sweetest treatment from L's contracting walls. Loose to tight, loose to tight; it was getting hard to breathe in the dank smelling air that is pleasently being replaced with a rich musky scent of L's leaking head, none-the-less, his panting becomes more shallow and his mouth leaves the kiss in hopes of some air. But L's legs grappling him, closing him within them sent him over the edge taking the man with him as warmth radiated through his body. Their panting hard and heavy they catch their breaths, no words being said in the meantime.

"L, will you come with me?" Asks Light, hand moving through the man's dark hair as if he's trying to comb it with his fingers.

"I don't think I have a choice in the matter." He looks down at the shirt still tied around his waist.

Smiling, Light kisses him on the lips as an apology before freeing himself from the man's hold. "Here, you can take my shorts." He removes his jeans and boxers handing them over to L to wear with his shirt.

The advertisor begins arranging the clothes on his body watching Light, who's moving about the room. "Where are we going?"

"To the police station."

"Why?"

"Its safer there, and you can get some clothes."

"Why not just go back to the apartment?"

"Its not safe. I'd rather you sit with a friend of mine."

Finding that strange, L nods. "Light... I'm sorry about not telling you."

Turning his head at the memory those words held, he waits for the rest hoping that L won't start falling apart again. "About what?"

The man stands walking over to the window next to Light to look out into the empty street. "When I was younger, my brother used to" He thought for a better word and came up with. "be intimate with me."

Light's eye twitched hearing L's choice of wording. It wasn't like that at all. "It doesn't matter." He lied. "You're fine, aren't you?"

"More or less." L nods, glad that Light had taken it so well. Most people who knew have thrown stones. "I thought that I should tell you incase you were wondering about some things." He meant the lack of resistance.

"No. Its personal, private, you didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." It wasn't as if L were waving it as a flag of some sort, he actually sounded pained by the admittance. "Remember when you asked me before, about how I felt about you?"

L nods recalling the sting of not getting an answer.

"Honestly, I think that I'm starting to fall for you; which is why I have to keep you safe."

"From what?"

Ignoring the question he starts to push the counter, getting help from L without asking or gesturing. "There's no time to explain, I just need to do something today then I'll be back on Monday. I promise."

"Alright."

The door is pulled open, all creatures have retreated with the night. He climbs into the front seat, L joins him in the car in the passangers side. As Light drove he kept glancing at L almost to make sure that he was still there. L kept quiet the entire trip into Central, his gaze out the window. Light wonders what he's thinking about while at the same time wonders what he himself is thinking by promising to return after the reset. Didn't he make a promise to himself that he would never return to Silent Hill for as long as he lived. Mello may enjoy the dangers of almost getting stuck here, but Light can't end up like Near. He just can't.

...

The car pulls up at the Central police station around 6:38 a.m. Light reaches across to the glove compartment popping it open to remove one of the two guns hidden within it. A glance at L he caught the male cocking a brow at the weapon.

"For protection." He explained.

"You've gotten paranoid staying here. You do know that."

"I'm not paranoid, you're just blind." He said remembering what Matt had told him about seeing nothing when he was being attacked that first day. "I'll be back, keep the doors locked."

L gave him a skeptical look before he closed the door. He hadn't been five steps passed the car when the passangers door opened. L stepped out giving himself a stretch. Light didn't look the least bit surprised by L's actions but heard himself saying.

"Didn't I say to stay in the car?"

"I know judo; do you think I'm an innocent who can't defend himself?"

Shoulders slumped, he pictures L trying to fend off monsters with fists and flying kicks. Sighing, he turns back to the car opening the passanger door to grab the other gun. "Here. Do you know how to use it?"

L has the handle of the gun pinched between his fingers giving it a quick study. "It doesn't seem too hard, just aim and pull the trigger." He aims and pretends to pull the trigger. "Pow."

Snickering Light shakes his head. If it weren't so damned cute, he'd take the gun back. The last thing he needs is to get shot from a miss-fire. Cautiously, he starts for the station. Beyond the slightly tinted windows he sees eratic movement but its at least from a single person. Looking around he checks the sky for the ashy snow, a ring catches his attention bringing it forward to where L just strolled into the police station. Defeated in his need for caution he calmly walks into the police station.

"Hey Light." Matt waves a hand. "What are you doing here so early?" After scratching his brownish red hair he corrects himself. "Scratch that, what are you doing here at all actually."

Light could sock the man after yesterday, but no, Mello should be his real target as Matt was so far gone he doubted he knew he was even in the room with them. "Matt, I need a favor from you."

"Okay, what?"

"I need you to watch L for me." He nods over to where said man is looking at Wanted posters.

"Excuse me?" He didn't so much turn himself around but his head crooked back to look over his shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I didn't say that. All I want is for you to stay put while I take care of some things today."

"And how long is it that I'm supposed to "stay put"?"

Light can hear the air quotes around his words, watching as L comes over to them. "I don't know, hopefully not long." He can't meet L's dark gaze, choosing to look at Matt instead. "Do you know where Mello is right now?"

"Probably Cafe Mist."

"I know where that is." He recalls it from when L took him for breakfast the morning he'd almost drowned.

"Will you answer me this time? Why do I need to stay here?"

"Because, I don't want you to be alone!" He hadn't meant to shout but he hates when people don't listen. Patience was never his strong suite in the longer run of things he could brush off, especially when it was for something important like this. Calming his tone, though, L hardly seemed fazed by it he says. "I just have to do something, one little thing and I'll be back. I want you to stay here because Matt will keep you company and he's a good guy."

"Its true. I am good company." He nods, beaming from the compliment.

L looks from Light to Matt then moves away from them to continue looking about the station.

"What's this all about? You give up on Mikami, or something?" He looks over Light's shoulder. "He is good looking, though, you sure like guys with black hair don't you. Is that your type or something?"

Light grips Matt's shoulder to get him to focus on something useful. "Here. If I don't come back Monday, please give this to L- no time before." He whispers shoving a piece of folded up paper into the gamer's hand.

"O..kay." He stuffs it into his pocket. "But what are you gonna do in the meantime?"

"I can't tell you, its sort of an unsaid promise because of Mello. But, trust me, its important."

Nodding, he watches L moving about the room. "Listen, we're sorry for yesterday. We sort of thought that you were having a good time or something and Mello wanted to say goodbye to me and we went into the bedroom and by the time we were done, you were gone."

He was pissed at them for not watching his nearly conscious body; from what L told him he could have fallen to his death from the 3 story drop after jumping to the next building, but he could understand their reason as he did a little of that of his own an hour ago. Mello must be a wreck, being in love with someone who isn't a someone anymore and lives in such a dangerous place. One slip-up and its over for you, but in the end you can stay by their side rather than having to go back and forth. Shaking away those sorts of thoughts, he remembers his family back home in Kanto then heads for the door.

"You should wait around here, Mello is going to work today so he'll probably come by. I'd hurry if I were you, though, Mello never sticks around long on a Sunday." He snickers. "Can you believe he buys into the whole tourist attraction of" He wriggles his fingers menacingly. "The Anniversary drawing neeear." He laughs a little more this time. "Light, please don't tell me that you let Mello's paranoia get to you?" He asks looking down at the gun clutched in the journalist's hand.

"He has." L chimes in from the next room.

"I'm not paranoid. I have to go." He walks over to L who's exiting the room. Giving him the briefest kiss, he then turns his attention back to Matt. "Can you find something for him to put on?"

The gamer nods. "Uumm, wouldn't you like a shirt or something too?" He points to the man's bare chest.

Light had forgotten all about that; what a sight he and L must be together. Walking back into the room he waits a moment for Matt to return. Taking the offered black shirt with a S.H.P.D crest on it. L removed the sullied shirt Light had given him, slipping into a pair of sweat pants and the other police shirt Matt brought out. Thanking the gamer Light hurries to the door, side stepping a cop that's coming in. Glad to see that the city is waking up, he climbs into his car wondering where the garbage truck might come in from so that he can flag the blond down. Looking back toward the station he isn't surprised to see a little glowing square get passed off to L from Matt showing off his handheld. That should keep him from wandering too much. He never understood some videogames, though, in his younger years he did own quite a few but those were mostly sports games never anything long. After an hour and fiftteen mintutes of waiting he spots the truck heading toward the bridge. Starting the car he follows closely after him, hoping the man has at least a little White Claudia on him if he has enough balls to smoke the stuff normally. How can he take going to that other world, does it give him some sick kind of rush? Maybe he's just trigger happy and likes the challange. Or maybe a part of him wants to end Matt's suffering but he chickens out each time.

It wasn't until they hit Bachman that Mello pulled the truck to a stop. Looking out the window he seemed to roll his eyes before exiting the car; blue jump suit looking like loose skin on his thin frame. "What is it now? I helped you out, so get lost."

"Be lucky I don't put a bullet in your head!" Light snaps exiting his car as well. "Do you realize that I jumped out of a window to the next building? If L hadn't seen me I could have fallen to my death."

"How is it my fault that you started moving? I tied you down."

"No, you tied me up. And seeing how that turned out, I'm lucky you didn't tie me down because I could have died right there when the ceiling came down into the burning room I woke up in."

Mello's teal eyes widen in shock. "You... saw the fire? Where's Matt?" His tone is concerned and worried that Light had done something stupid. He knows Matt grew up in this town, he was only supposed to be looking for Mikami.

"At the station in Central, he's with L."

The tension leaves him. "So then what do you want? Didn't you find Mikami?"

"I did, but I couldn't talk to him. I came back here to speak with Near and see if he can tell me what I did wrong." He looks down the road to where Levin street is. "Do you have any White Claudia on you?"

"Yeah." He looks light over suspiciously. "Why do you need it?"

"I need to go back." He starts for his car. "This time I will free Mikami of this place, but I need your help getting to the otherside again."

Mello stared after Light's retreating back, then with a roll of his eyes he says a hefty. "Fine. But this is the last time." Walking back to his truck he waits for Light to lead the way to Near's place and follows.

...

"Mistake number one was getting tied up. Mello was it? You could have gotten Light killed by that stupid mistake, but then you didn't really know so it really isn't your fault." He takes a seat on the couch, hand reaching to start up a fire engine that's on the coffee table.

"Who are you calling stupid?" Barks the blond watching the child play with his toy as if he's the only one in the room.

"The mistake." Says Near. "Do you consider yourself a mistake, Mello?" He asks calmly.

Light couldn't help but hide a snicker at the comment. From anyone else it would have come off as an insult, but from Near it just sounded as if he were talking to no one in particular.

Mello grit his teeth, fist balled.

"Did you manage to talk to Mikami?" Near focuses now on Light, seeing as how he'd won round one.

"No. I did see him, though, the place where he died- its in the tower at the bridge."

"Hmm." He intones thoughtfully.

"So, what was the problem."

Near is quiet a moment, then replies. "It seems that Mikami is bound in two places. Here and where you sent him after he'd missed the reset in those three months he was with you in Kanto."

'So he was the one that started the rift between here and there.' Thinks Mello glaring at Light for making his life a living hell with the world growing darker and darker. The time within here and there shortening with each snow fall. Pretty soon the whole damn place will be nothing but a moving cemetery- well, of the worst kind. Seeing them as people will no longer be possible, there will be nothing but chared human's walking the earth, or those creepy headless things in the outskirts. He never understood what went on there and he didn't want to know. Having to clean up dead bodies that appear in trash cans after this Near person frees the soul from this place was enough to keep him busy for months and years. He had always wondered how it were possible for these bodies to show up. Now he knows, but honestly he never expected this kid. He'd seen flyers before about how the people should speak with him, but he just figured the flyers were some sort of reflection of the kids innerself- people wanna look good right? Mello had to mentally slap himself for complimenting the kids looks, his gaze snapping away when he caught Near watching him.

Smirking, the albino child then turns his attention back to Light. "We'll have to recover where his soul drifted to in order to get him back on the right course, once we do that you can speak freely to him, I don't need to tell you about the urgency in the matter. Only say what needs to be said, don't expand your time with him longer than it needs to be."

"I won't." He said, though, inside he felt unsure. He didn't know who the hell he was on the phone with but it left his insides stirring.

Digging into the pocket of his jumpsuit, Mello holds out a white stick to the child. "Here. Its the only one I have so you'd better do this right."

"Thanks. But I won't be needing that. I can get there on my own, and I'll be taking Mr. Yagami with me."

Cocking a brow, Light parts his lips to speak but it seemed that Near was already ahead of him in thought.

"The reason I sent you to them is so that you could take care of the matter on your own; as I told you when we'd spoken before you and I share a gift for seeing spirits, only difference is that we can communicate with them whereas others can't. You, Light Yagami, are a novice and can't manipulate the worlds as I can so I have to help you. The reason I didn't do so in the first place is because I've never tried it with another person before and it may not have worked."

"Its fine and I'm ready to go whenever you can take us there."

Listening quietly, Mello takes that as his insentive to go. "If that's settled then I'm-..."

"No." Near says tightly. "You have to stay here. Mr. Watari, my aid, is gone for the day and I need you to watch our bodies while we're on the otherside. If we look too banged up, you'll have to wake us up manually if I can't find a way to pull out."

The two sit in a dead locked gaze. It was Mello to break contact first, walking over to an arm chair he lounges in it as if it were his own; one leg draped over the arm of the chair, the other leg to the floor, leaving him to look shamelessly splayed out for sex or something close to it. "Just see that he does it this time. Yagami seems as bright as a wet sheet of paper."

"To give paper any intellengence at all leaves your own questionable." Standing from his seat, he stands before Light.

The journalist caught his breath when the child's hands come up to his temples.

"Put your arms around me."

Doing as he's told he wonders out loud. "Will this help?" He felt weird holding onto an eighteen year old that looks like a fourteen year old.

"No. But I don't wanna hit the floor when we cross over." His dark grey eyes close and he breathes in deeply taking in Light's scent of sex, and natural body odor. When his senses and mind are swimming, he can feel his spirit pushing forward from his body.

Mello watches, mouth parted in shock seeing a white mist leave the childs form going into Light's body. How can this be real? If he didn't see half the things he's seen being here, he never would have allowed himself to believe this. When Near's body slammed into Light's both men remain clutched in each others arms, slumped on the couch. It looked like an uncomfortable angle and he wondered about moving them. He needed only to lift Light's leg to lay across the couch anyway and got up to do so, with a grunt he moves the man's legs to rest along the length of the couch, the young boy's body moved right along with the action. He looked like a father sleeping with his child in his arms. He takes his place back on the armchair, candy bar pulled from his pocket to be eaten as he waits. He only hoped this little trip didn't take long.

** ** **

Light's eyes scrunch before opening. Looking around a room colored in the moon's blue he sees that he's in the apartment and alone. Sitting up of his own will he lets out a relieved breath but when he tries to stand the room spins dropping him back onto the bed, a hand holding the side of his head.

"Light, where are you?"

Near sounded weird when his voice is semi-shouting. It sounds as if he's in L's apartment. "Near, I'm in here- across the hall." He calls back.

Foot steps are heard in the main room of the apartment before the bedroom door opens. The male seemed happy to see him as he walks over to the bed.

"I feel like my mind is swimming in paste."

"It passes. Until then, stay close to me," He takes Light's hand. "I can't have you leaving before we get anywhere with this." He starts for the door.

Curious, Light asks. "Near, are you in L's spirit?"

"I'm in no one's spirit, neither are you- that's how the gift works." He looks around in the main room, his dark gaze casting over to this shadow and that as if looking for something. "I think the only reason I ended up at this 'L' person's place is because I smelled him on you before bringing us here."

Light looked hot with guilt but Near let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm not judging you, Light, feelings are fickle, do whatever you want with them. My only concern is the issue at hand."

They start for the exit to the hall; hands still clasped.

"You've encountered Pyramid Head more than me, have you found any weaknesses to help us get rid of him?"

Light thinks for a moment. "It isn't exactly easy to look for weaknesses on a person who's trying to kill you." He then adds. "I did manage to pull one of his eyes out, though."

"Then bullets will work on him. Where's the gun you were carrying when we came here?"

"Still in the bedroom." He figures when he feels that his free hand isn't holding it. "I'll get it, my headache seems to be leaving, anyhow." Releasing the boy's hand he starts across the room.

He heard a strange sort of groan or creak before having to fall back onto his butt from the large sword coming up through the floor in front of him. Quickly, Light scoots away before the thing came slamming down over his head to split him down the middle and it instead sliced through the floor. Near watched, bewildered at the scene, as the sword came up again and again anywhere Light seemed to move. Pyramid Head must be in the apartment below them!

"Light sit still, he can hear where you're moving to!" He calls to the man who's trying his hardest to escape the deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

"Easier said than done!" He slams his back against the wall, finally managing to stand up.

The sword came up one last time before the onslaught stilled. A weird sound like snorting caught their ears then. The sword came up three times in random places, once before Near, who turned his head shuddering in elated fear that the man retracted the sword rather than taking a slice with it. The clogged sniffing sounds again then quiets completely.

"Is he gone?" Near asks; breathing a little heavier then he would have liked for it to be.

"I doubt it. He may be looking for the apartment we're in. Near-.." He calls after the boy when he darts across the room towards the kitchen. "What are you doing?" He asks when he hears a drawer sliding open on its track.

"You can't be the only one with a weapon; its up to both of us to kill him."

"No, you should stay hidden somewhere. You're better at this than I am, you can still save Mikami for me."

"I didn't come here to stop existing, Light, I came to help you free another victim of this place. What makes you think that if you were to die that I could handle this on my own?" He walks out of the kitchen holding the largest knife he could find in the drawer. "We're in this together."

Their heads whip towards the door.

"That's him. Hide in the closet."

"I already said that-.."

"I'm not telling you to stay out of it, I just think it would be easier for you to sneak up on him then to directly assalt him." He mentions while nodding at the gun in his hand. "Now hurry!"

Skeptical, Near crosses the room, hiding in the coat closet; the door remains cracked so that he can watch for an opportunity to strike. He's never been one to submit to many emotions so he wasn't about to start now. He can't let himself be afraid; the unpredictability of where fires will start, or flaming projectiles will land was a high enough risk, but most of those were residual and easy to avoid after he's been enough times. B is an intellegent haunting doing as he wishes with whatever or whomever comes his way. But that's no excuse, fear will only make him slow and careless. He and Light can do this. Readjusting his grip on the knife, he quiets his breathing.

The door slamming in caused both men to jump our of their skin from start. Light points the gun at the door waiting for the man to come in; B is slow with that sword in his hand, getting a good shot in should be no problem. But his plans take an unexpected turn as he falls hard onto his side to avoid the large weapon that came whizzing into the room like an arrow; it stabbed into the wall going two feet through before it held there. As B trudged into the room, a battle howl shrieked from his lump covered mouth. Light planned to open fire right then but another unexpected turn came as Mikami emerged from his bedroom; an ax in hand, he swings it through the air right into the madman's neck. Light recalls the dream he had when he'd first stayed in the apartment; Mikami did exactly the same thing he had then. Did he come across the man and attempt to kill him as well? What happened that he didn't? Mikami vanished in a clap of smoke, as if he were nothing more than a mirage. Recovering from his muddled state, Light aims the gun from where he is on the floor. The shot fired off, the bullet landing in B's chest causing him to stagger back a step but he pressed forward towards him.

Taking three more shots, Light gets up from the floor when Pyramid Head drops to his bleeding knee. It didn't detain him for long, though. His hand grips the handle of his sword and in one swift jerk he pulls it from the wall. Near watches for a chance, presuming that when B goes to work his large weapon he can strike then, but B whipped the thing gracefully, it looked no heavier than if he were to swing his own arm through the air. But the damage its doing is definitely not that of a hand slapping about and everything touched is being easily crushed or sliced in two. He's practically bringing down the entire apartment! All Light can do is dodge, no clear shots are left open for him.

Near heard the groan before Light, and ran from the closet for the door. "Light, the floor!" He calls in to him.

Light didn't need it any clearer than that as he hurries towards the hall, but its a little too late as the floor caves in taking him and B with it. The two of them lay in the broken rubble and dust. Light was the first to recover but when he tries to move he cries out in pain. Pulling a nail from his arm by yanking the board its stuck to away from him, he holds his hand to the hole to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Looking up through the hole at the floor he'd fallen from, he sees that Near is gone. A few pained whimpers come from him as his pained legs try to stand.

"Ugh!" His head slams back onto the broken pile covering the floor from a punch he'd just received. Light can feel B's weight drop down over his body as he straddles his hips, the man's hands wrap firmly around his neck. Just when Light thinks that he's going to be strangled to death, one hand lets go and starts to pull at his face beneath his eye!

"Eeeeye fooor eeeye." Growls the man; the tip of his tumor touching Light's chin due to the length of it.

Light let out a desparate scream when the man's fingernail caught under his eye.

...

Mello is staring in horror at the blood staining Light's arm, he's even more shocked by the tear of blood running down from the man's closed left eye. He reached out to shake them, wake them up. After all he had agreed to watch them, but maybe they were handling things but its a little rough and tumble right now. Last thing he wanted was more lip from the brat and angst from the grieving journalist. Better to just leave them alone.

Light bucked and struggled to get free, his head tossing left and right to keep the man from pulling his eye from its socket. He heard the foot steps before Pyramid Head and squeezed his eyes shut when a large boil was plunged clean through by the knife Near weilded, having it burst open. Blood and puss sprayed over both of them, moreso when Near moved the knife in a zig-zag to cause further injury until he was bashed away; knocking into the wall, the younger male coiled in on himself. Ducking his head when B came over and jerked him to his feet by the front of his shirt. He waited for further pain to come but the male seemed only to stare at him. His eyes raised before his dipped head came up to meet the man's, or whatever's, gaze directly. B's body began to shake, Near's shirt released dropping him to the floor. He tried to run but he's slammed into the wall with a hand to his forehead to pin him there. The tumor around B's head slowly receeded back into his brain revealing the man he was before darkness engulfed him.

"L." He whispered while pressing himself into Near.

The teen shook his head at what the man said, left surprised when B's arms wrap around him bringing him to his knees with him. What the hell was going on? Is he having an episode? Light watched in the distance, knowing exactly what was going on. He had always thought that Near and L's dead gaze was similar and in the darkness, all covered in blood Near's hair honestly does look black. B must see his brother in the male.

"Y-..yes B, i-..its me." Mutters Near more in confusion than fear.

The man laughed manically. "I thought you had died. I thought that I killed you but... you're here."

Light's eyes flashed hearing the man's laughter. It was the same as the one he'd heard over the phone when he thought he was talking to Mikami.

"Let's go home, B." Near continued to lie, though, in truth he sounded nothing like L. He lacked L's wonder and mock, Near was simply deadpan.

The creature nods before standing. With Near out of the way, it gave Light the perfect chance for the perfect shot and with the gun to the back of the man's head, he fired. The scream could have shook the building as B's right eye was blown out from the back. Near cried out as well, dropping down to the floor holding his leg. Light had no time to tend to the boy's wound, he had to finish the blind killer off. B staggered away from Near, again stun making him dig in the hole within his head and the tumor started to return in slow pulsating growths. But Light wasn't about to let the man's strength return and with every ounce of energy he had left he charged at him shoving him with his shoulder knocking him through the window. Hearing the grunts of pain, Light hurries to Near's side.

"Are you alright?"

"The bullet grazed my leg, I don't think I can walk on it. Nevermind me, though, check to see if he's dead. Hurry!"

Going over to the window, almost losing his footing from the loose floorboards, Light looks down at the street. He expected the man to be gone, to already be on his way back up to the apartment, but there he lay. Beyond Birthday... Dineas Elliot... dying in the street, head split open in the back and spine busted keeping his limbs from moving even if he wanted them too. And after two hard breaths, the man smiled and lay still.

...

Light has Near piggybacked to help him move around faster. They're in the hall of the apartment building wondering how to get to old town sooner than later. Its dark outside, that much they know, but the time is off everywhere anyhow so its hard to say exactly when the accident will truly happen.

"One of these doors should take us to old town, or close enough to it." Near says over his shoulder.

"That's impossible." Light starts for the elevator.

"No. Where we are is considered 'nowhere'. This isn't like going to the other world with the White Claudia, I've brought us here on spiritual energy coming from everywhere, which makes the air nothing but large portals. Do you understand?"

"I can... Whereas with the herb I'm brought to this world as it exist, but with your gift its the entire world we're in rather than a borrowed energy from a soul."

"You catch on quick, Light." Looking around the hall, he points to a door. "Let's try that one over there. We have to hurry from the apartment, we may have helped Mikami escape, but B isn't really gone, as long as there's someone that fears him, he'll only keep coming back."

"Okay.." He starts toward apartment 202 but pauses. His gaze catches sight of a pale blur heading into 204. It looked... it looked like Mikami. "Did you see that?"

Looking around, Near shakes his head.

"We should go this way, it may sound weird but, I think I just saw Mikami go in." He's walking two doors down. "He may be trying to guide us."

It didn't seem impossible, strange, but not impossible. Light and Mikami have some sort of connection, and it must be projecting even without the deceased man having any knowledge of it. Light opens the door. It looked like a regular apartment room, that is until he stepped through it. The room was moving suddenly, and there was music playing. No they're not in a room they're...

"We're at the amusement park." Near looks around them as the merry-go-round turned them in a full circle on repeat.

"How can we be...?" His words trail off when Near speaks again.

"The shifting worlds, Light. Nevermind that, though, do you see Mikami again?"

Looking around as far as his vision expands, but he saw no sign of the man. Walking forward, careful to step lively so that they wouldn't fall over from the spinning machine, he heads towards the stairs stepping down them swiftly. He didn't need to be told to keep a sharp eye out for Mikami, he was just glad that the machines and signs and things lit the place up. The darkness in the apartment was concerning and frightening, way to easy for something horrible to hide away in. But here, he can see everything, which is how he saw.

"What are those?"

"They're the victims who died here. Unlike with the herb, they're seen as they are on this side- avoid them, Light" There's sudden panic in Near's tone. "these souls have the ability to posses you and its nearly impossible not to follow them to their death."

"Right."

Light moves quickly but carefully through the invisible mob, it was hard for him to simply sprint to the next ride for a bit of safety due to the fact that one minute he would be walking a clear path then one would simply appear out of nowhere in front of them. A loud whiff cut through the air right before an explosive boom.

"Its starting." Near looks into the sky.

Screams are heard all around them, man, woman, and child; the dark mist began running about frantically. Light watches his steps but one of the people ran through him, regardless. The feeling was cold, fearful, and staggering. He almost fell to his knees from the pain and fear running through him, but Near's voice snapped him out of it.

"Light, let's move! Its not safe here."

More explosions rack through the sky above them, some large pieces scatter about the area breaking the machines and cracking small holes in the ground.

"I have to find my son first! He went to the restroom..."

Near cocked a thin brow, then dug his finger into the small hole in the journalist's arm.

"Aaaa!" The physical pain cut through any haunt that possessed his body, and with urgency he stands rushing off. "Keep your finger in my arm! I'm gonna cut through." He cried out again as the teen's finger dug a little further. But he withheld the rest of his pained yells. Making his ways around the park, watching out only for the large burning pieces of metal or concrete, he managed to get onto a booth by the ferris wheel. Looking out over the, due to the damage its taking, slowly darkening park. "Over there!" He points before running off in the direction of a machine with flying elephants. It wasn't easy to see the holes being made in the ground but luckily they made it over without Light stumbling too much. Climbing the four stairs he opens the little gate onto the ride and the two have a drop painfully to the ground.

Gritting his teeth, he reaches behind him shoving Near off of his back. "You can stop poking me now." He applies pressure to his wounded arm. Looking around he asks. "Where are we?"

A loud boom sounds from overhead.

"I think we're in the sewers." He replies after taking a deep whiff. Feeling the ground shake; sounds of crumpling bits of rock following, Near stands up only to kneel back down. He had no idea getting shot hurt so much- even from a graze!

"Are you alright? You're leg is still bothering you?"

"Yes. But it's not important right now, besides, I'll only feel it when I'm here, once we get back the pain will be gone."

It didn't exactly make Light feel any better about it, but he nods. "I'm sorry that I shot you."

"It was an accident from the bullet exiting Pyramid Head, its not a big deal."

"It doesn't mean I don't feel guilty over it." He reaches out tousling the kids hair like he was his younger sister. "Near, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. But talk as we move, we don't wanna get crushed down here." Standing, he leans heavily against a wall. Muck and dampness greet his palm. Making a face of distaste, he starts forward.

"Here, I can still carry you." Standing in front of Near he crouches down. "Come on. I really don't mind."

Climbing back onto Light's back he rest his cheek against Light's shoulder. Being here with two people really is taking a lot out of him, he's more tired then he would have given thought to. "So what is it that you wanted to know?"

"Its... you know how my keeping Mikami from being here caused a crack in this place?" He could feel Near nod, his cheek brushing his shoulder. "Well, I was wondering if it would be the same if I took someone out."

"You mean this L person you've grown fond of."

"...Yeah."

"You could remove him, but can you live with a ghost, Light? Live with someone who doesn't know they're dead, someone who will be virtually invisible to nearly all the world? Do you really think he could handle a life of solitude with you?"

"L's had it hard growing up, he was invisible anyway unless someone was insulting him because of his brother. I don't think that L would mind at all."

"Hm." Near could only smirk at the man's resolve. "You're strange, Light Yagami. I've never met anyone like you before."

"How so?"

"You generally care about someone even when you're using them, its strange."

Light didn't believe that to be true, but then Near has only known what he's shown to him so he can see how the profit would come to that state of mind. "So is there a way?"

"Yes. You have to find L's soul and get possessed by him, once you've accomplished that you can walk out of here and he'll go right along with you."

"Its that simple?"

"If by 'simple' you mean to tell me that you can override all of L's thoughts and feelings to live as you are now, while having his soul bound to you, than yes," He shifts a bit during a turn around a corner. "it is that simple."

"All of L, I have to consume."

"Yes."

Light thinks quietly as they make their way to a patch of light coming from what they hope is a manhole. "I can do it, that's what a relationship is based on, right? Just tell me how."

"Later, once we get out of here."

"Okay."

"May I ask you a question, Light?" He asks when seeing a nod. "How can you love a ghost?"

"Honestly, I don't look at him as a ghost. I can see him, and touch him; L makes me smile. I wouldn't care if I imagined him, I think I'd love him either way." After a thought he adds. "Even if, as you say, emotions are fickle. As long as it isn't in the same period of time, you can love as many people as you like." Looking up at the lights overhead that cut in and out, he kneels down. "Can you climb? I'll be behind you if you feel yourself falling, but try to make it out quickly if you can so the injury doesn't get worse."

"You don't have to tell me that." He starts up the cold metal ladder, allowing his injured leg to lag a bit in stepping up the rung.

Light comes up behind him. The two brace themselves steady when a rumble shakes the ground above them. When the ground steadies, Light climbs a bit higher up to shove at the manhole cover. Pushing it aside he waits for Near to climb out then joins him on the street of old town.

"Damn it." He mutters.

"What is it?"

"The house has already collapsed, Mikami is on his way to the tower." Waiting for Near to climb onto his back he starts off for the bridge, hoping the fastest route there hasn't caved in yet. Light is winded shortly, breaths coming in and out hard and steady.

"If I'm slowing you down then leave me here, I'll be fine."

"No. I'm fine carrying you; I'm just pushing myself because we're running out of time." Feeling that his breaths are caught, he starts off again. It was almost as if his senses have been down-sized being here this way, unlike his borrowing a soul to come where every scent of ash and burned skin suffocated his lungs. He really needs to learn that hot-wire trick of Matt's, this trip would have gone a lot better.

By the time Light reached the bridge his entire body was on fire with raw nerves on the verge of breaking down from being pushed too hard.

"The rest is up to you, you only need to talk to him and he'll listen." Letting his body slip from Light's hold, Near grabs onto the railing for support.

Light races up the stairs of the tower, pulling the door open quickly. "Mikami!"

Turning his head the man looks shocked and confused. "Light... what are you doing here?"

Panting, Light crosses the short distance pulling Mikami into his arms. It felt so good to hold him again he was almost in tears but instead starts to laugh.

Smiling, he holds Light back. "I'm happy to see you too, but now isn't the time for a happy reunion, the town, maybe even the whole city is about to go up in flames." He turns the key to lower the bridge. "We have to get out of here."

Shaking his head, Light keeps his hold on the man, shrinking to the floor. "You don't have to worry about anything anymore."

"What are you talking about?" His voice is growing nervous hearing how close the landing sites are getting to where he is. "Didn't you see what was going on, something is causing explosions and-..."

"Ssshhh." He strokes the back of the man's head. "Listen to me... do you remember when the two of us were together?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember having these weird moments where you would feel like you needed to be somewhere else?"

Mikami thought it over, though, it was hard to concentrate with all the chaos blowing up around them. "I think so."

"The reason you were so restless, the reason that you had to come back here is because you're..." He sighs in frustration. There has to be an easier way to go about telling someone that they're dead. "Mikami... I can't find a lesser way to say this other than to just tell you but..."

Near watches the tower on pins and needles. 'Come on, Light. I told you not to hesitate.'

Eyes wide in disbelief, the lawyer shakes his head. "I'm... I'm dead... but how? I feel fine... I..." He trails off in thoughtful disbelief.

Light nods slowly. "You died here, years ago, before you and I met... you died while trying to save all these people."

"But how is that possible? None of this has happened before- you're insane!"

"I wish there was a better explanation to how it all works but... you're duty to this place, this recycled hell, is over." He can hear Near calling to him. "Mikami... I don't know how you managed to be with me but we were together and those were some of the best days of my life. It isn't any easier for me to say goodbye to you then it is for you to understand that you're gone." He looks at the man as if to memorize his face. "Please believe me." He touches the man's cheek gently.

"But I don't wanna die." Mikami begins to tear up; his chest puffing in and out rapidly from dry sobs. "I don't wanna die!" He shouts in hysterics.

Wrapping his arms around the man, he pulls him into his chest. "It won't hurt, I promise." Though he has no guaruntee of that statement he has to believe it.

"Come with me- come with me! We can go together!" He tries to move from Light's grasp but he remains pinned.

"I can't go with you, but I can take you with me, Mikami... I can remember you."

He can feel the man nodding into his chest, muffled sniffles sound now and then.

"Light, let's go!" Shouts Near.

"Please remember me."

"I will. Always." Light nods.

Mikami swallows hard when his body starts to feel lighter; he can see a bright Light surrounding him. Light can too, though his is more orange then white.

"Light!" Near practically screamed.

...

Light clamped his eyes shut waiting for the cave in when he heard the loud boom overhead, but as no concrete came crashing down onto his head he peeked his eyes open to look around. "Where... what happened?" He asks while looking around in the blinding white.

"I wanted to say goodbye. I can hear it whispering in the back of my head, Light." Mikami removes his glasses to get a better look into the eyes of the man he loves. Light's just as beautiful as he remembers him. Those honey colored eyes remove the concern from them to show a soft loving side. "How I died... I... was at home, here in Silent Hill; a vacationing man called me to represent him in a case in Japan. I flew out there and rented an apartment, I was there for a month before returning home for some," He waves his hand through the air thoughtfully. "stupid thing or another, and in my return the fire happened. The road opposite Central was oblitorated first so I had to get to the bridge, they keep it up at night incase ships come through to reduce noise or something. I got all the way to the tower when the roof collapsed. And somehow I woke up in Kanto and let it all go as a bad dream, that's when I met you."

Light's expression grew grim with guilt then.

"Everything was so wonderful and peaceful then, but in the back of my mind I kept hearing someone calling me. Then I got another job back home, but in the outskirts; that trial took forever I wound up moving there altogether. Then the nightmares started again, the fire... only... the man I put away kept making appearances in my dreams and I couldn't stop them from coming."

"Its because of me! I'm the reason that you had to work that case and move to the outskirts... I'm the reason that you were almost wiped out of existance all together! If you hadn't met me then... then you'd still be.."

"No. Light. You said that you would remember me, I don't want it to be in sadness." He touches the man's cheek. "Only happy memories."

"Yeah." But his tone was hardly happy, not even close.

"Come on, remember that time we went to the carnival and you got sick on that ride."

Smiling, he chuckles quietly. "That you wanna remember?"

"You threw up twice- once almost on me! I didn't think I'd ever stop laughing at the great and mighty Light having motion sickness on a carnival ride."

"Great and mighty only when compared to a little baby like you. You practically jumped out of your skin when we went into that funhouse."

The two laugh.

"I did love swimming with you, though. You're angelic in the water, Light."

"Yeah, but you must have been a fish in a past life."

"I think I was..." He teases. "I can see so many colors moving about me... Can you?"

Light shakes his head.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you more."

"Don't. You miss me just enough to get on with your life." He leans forward planting a kiss on the man's lips. "I don't wanna be a burdon to you." He begins to fade away. "Goodbye, Light."

"Goodbye."

One month later...

This letter is addressed to everyone resident in Silent Hill, including myself. But before I tell anything, I have to ask that you take a look at your life as it is and honestly answer if you're happy. Do you have kids to think of? Are you in love? If the answer is 'yes' to even the smallest of questions then please don't read any further; just be happy and live because we were put here on this earth to feel joy and you should keep it for as long as you can. But then again, that's why I've written this letter because there's something that you should know about, something going on that robs you of this joy from time to time and leaves you in a bad place; which is why I ask that you continue reading.

I came to this town in search of an ex-boyfriend of mine named, Teru Mikami; he used to live in Kanto Japan, we dated for 3 months before he moved back to his hometown in Silent Hill without saying a word to me. I was more heart broken then I ever thought I could be over someone and so when receiving a letter from him I came out here. From day one I found the place weird and unsettling but that was just my opinion since the town's people seem happy- minus the light paranoia. I've learned so much from being out here that I thought the way to help you all was to bring in groups and swarms of people who could make positive changes to Silent Hill but I was wrong. The darkness in this city would have eaten them alive. So as I sit here in the dark, with a man I've come to love, I realize the answer isn't in bringing in more people but in reaching the people trapped inside to free them of the curse they've been placed under.

10 years ago there was a cult that met once sometimes twice a week to contact the dead through a method of inhaling a hallucinagenic plant called White Claudia. Whether or not it worked in the way they wanted it to only they know for sure, but that group led this town to its complete destruction. One night, when the S.H.P.D. raided their usual hang out, the members went into an abandoned steel mill to continue their ritual. Using the herb once was enough but they decided to light up again and it made them insane. They attacked each other savagely, some died, others took their instability out on the location knocking over wires and melted drums of steel that were heating as they rampaged through the night; someone had accidently turned it on. The machines were old and it gave easily to its own weight. The entire place melted down and explosions started from the pressure reaching critical. Bombs shot through the air landing in every direction it could, destroying anything it touched. Central and old town lit up in an inferno as the town lay sleeping in their beds. Some woke up from the noise and tried to escape only to meet their end upon arrival. Streets were broken, homes caved in, the one's with gas stoves exploding.

The fire department tried to put out the fires but it was simply too much for them and they too were taken by the flames. Everyone... all of you... men, women, and children... you're all dead. None survived and nothing stood. The place you live in now, is a world you remember but its all a dream brought on by the shock of your own death covering your eyes to it. The scent of White Claudia coating your air, tourist breathe it in and end up like yourselves if they can't get free before a black hole sweeps the town back into its slumber only to have you wake and live it all over again.

The outskirts were no better on that night as a madman single handedly reduced the residents within it to nothing days at a time. But the big score happened on the night of the fire when he murdered the apartment building he lived in before finally killing his self. They all slept, they knew nothing. Even his beloved brother was no match for the infection eating away at his sanity, and that infection fed off the darkness and the fear making him all the more terrifying. L, I'm sorry, but its true. Before killing himself, you're brother killed you. I'll miss you, L, and I will always love you.

As I said, I came here in search of an ex-lover whom I placed in a great deal of pain and upon freeing him, I freed myself. I want now, to free all of you, so that you can move on to the next life and stop repeating this one. But, as for me. I have to ask myself how I feel? What I want?

I am 29 year old journalist from Kanto Japan, Yagami-...

L walks out of the bedroom of their shared apartment in the outskirts of Silent Hill. Head cocked to the side he watches his lover at the door, newspaper in hand. "Light?" He says. "Are you coming?"

Having not read the name beyond Yagami, the man smiles balling up the paper before dropping it into the wastebasket beside the door.

"Yeah. But maybe we should have breakfast first."

Looking displeased the man rolls his eyes. "I'm too impatient to wait until after we eat, besides, you know I love having my meals on you." The man winked before going into the bedroom.

Smiling, Light follows after him. He can never get enough of their morning rolls between the sheets.

Its weird how many times he looks over that newspaper, always wondering if he'd ever want to read it to the end. He also wonders about why everyone decided to move so suddenly, nearly everyone in town seemed to almost vanish after the first week he had moved in with L. Even Matt stopped coming over. Mello, seemed pissed at him for some weird reason, but he never says why. He enjoys his company, though. Near on the other hand looks at him with admiring eyes, and calls often, but somewhere in the back of that admiration he seems to see Light as stupid. But won't question that either. Things are quiet and peaceful, he can live with that. He loves that.


	9. Ending Three: L

B elovates his brother's leg into the air, a hard grip on the older male's thigh to do so, and with all his strength shoves himself deeper into L's body. Pounding into him over and over the coughed and sputtered grunts of L fill his ears calming the pain in his head. He blinks down at his brother, a busted smile spreads across his face and he leans over a bit to place kisses onto the pale cheek that's exposed to him. He can hear his brother whisper something to him along the lines of "don't" but then L could have said anything right now and he wouldn't really understand it. He's not much farther from release when he hears something rattling in the closet. Turning his head he stalks over without a second thought to see what had caused the out of place sound. Grabbing the knob he hears a yelp, instead of flinging the door open, he milks a bit more fear from the hidden mouse that chose the wrong time to let out a yelp. His red eye gazes through the crack setting its sight upon a man, he's seen this man before wandering the building one day. He left him alone, sure that he would be too frightened to run off anywhere, he would definitely be back for him just like all the other stray dogs that end up in his part of town. It was like a sign, a devine sign sent from the heavens that told him what night was perfect to take the world as his meal. Booms were heard in the distance like some hard drum of a heartbeat that night and the booms whispered just as the voice whispered, and the world sang to him as he ravaged the outskirts of Silent Hill clean; or rather, as he intended to. He can't be sure what happened after he went to see his brother... One minute they were talking about something, L laughed at some nonsense that came out of his mouth and the next thing he knew he was fucking his brother. L seemed to like it, he didn't tell him to leave, if he had he hadn't heard him. Dineas Elliot was slowly losing his hearing as the pains in his head grew throughout the years, he jisted and smiled at whatever unheard was said to him. It wasn't as if anyone actually ever spoke to him or his brother anyway- well, they did speak but it was always some curse or rude thing so he just shut them out. The only voice he heard or cared about was Lawliet's.

Which is why when he caught himself decapitating his only loved one, he freaked out and ran away to hide somewhere; the urge to kill was still so strong, though, but after he ran out he has no clue what happened or when his hearing started to return; everyday is a fog of nothing, except for these few fleeting moments of clarity and sanity between the two of them and now some stranger has decided to ruin it. He will pay, dearly. "I see youuuuu." The freaked out little mouse breathed out in a frightened staggered breath but what happened next B was not expecting. The tip of a fingernail came straight pass his eyelids not pausing for a second; there's a low sucking sound, before the finger successfully moves above the eye and behind it. Beyond grunted in start as his vision blurred before losing sight of the left side of the room all together.

Light turned his head as quickly as he could to avoid being hit with the blood that spurts out from the vein snapping to empty the socket, but is a bit too slow getting some in his mouth and the corner of his eye; he blinks away the pain of the foreign liquid there, bursting from the closet, the door bashes into B knocking him down. He's making pained, almost frightened laughs of disbelief that his eye has been removed, and he wriggles and writhes on the floor trying to regain some composure over the immense pain. Light's first intention was to leave and never look back but his legs take him over to the bed where L lay either dead or unconscious, whichever it may be, he's not going to leave him alone with this sicko. Lifting him, he throws him over his shoulder carrying the nude body from the bedroom into the main room of the apartment.

"L, stop it, its me!" He says when the man's limbs begin to flail; his knee almost giving Light a good jab in the ribs but he places a hand on L's thigh to stop it.

Hearing his voice seemed to calm him down as the movement stopped, making him easier to run with. B's sword caught Light's attention; the cool metal shines in the dim moonlight as if asking to be taken and thoughts of doing just that play through his brain as he passes by. He'd have to find another way to do it because if he's gonna get out of here before the siren sounds and the barriers come down locking him in the room with this man, he can't waste time by carrying a possible corpse and a very heavy looking object; besides, he only has ten minutes to get out of the place, into his car, and to the boathouse. He would have slammed the door closed behind him but B had broken it in when he entered. Grabbing the knob to Mikami's apartment he pushes the door open a good crack in hopes to get the mad man's attention and send him in the wrong direction as they make their escape. He then looks up the hall then down wondering if he should take the stairwell or the elevator. The thing just had to be running. Going over to the glowing button, he taps it rapidly waiting for the the doors to open. Even in the distance you can hear a door slam into a wall hard enough to take the wall out rather than simply leave a hole in it, but judging by the thickness to it, it was the bedroom door.

Light was relieved when the doors open with a 'ding' allowing them entrance. He pressed the button for the lobby and when the doors close he lowers L, so that he's holding the man to his chest before he melts to the floor, himself, in a shuddering heap. Feeling something hard and moist in his hand Light flicks the eyeball from his grasp, not even realizing that he had been holding it all this time. A loud growl came from the floor they had just left; it sounds grumbled and hoarse not at all like the voice that spoke to him from in the closet. Is he Pyramid Head again? Why did the tumor leave in the first place, and how? Was it L? Light looks down at the slumped forward heap in his arms. The elevator let them out at the lobby and with a bit of an adjustment from before, Light piggybacks L toward the exit. He ran quickly across the street to where he had parked in front of Mello's or Matt's apartment. Opening the door, he turns his back to the opening laying the man in the backseat of the car, then climbs behind the wheel locking all doors with the automatic lock on the door panel.

"Don't worry, L, we're getting out of here." The car starts up the street at top speed. Turning on the radio, he hears the crackling from before, its very faint but there all the same.

Even at high speed Light couldn't seem to beat the curfew as the loud siren pierced the sky and one by one the appendageless bodies start to pepper the road all around him, shining in the head lights of the car. He had to turn down the radio as the crackling noise became almost a hard whistle and it was starting to give him a headache. At least Light didn't have the same fears as before- not behind the wheel anyway- and with ease, plowed right over the demons; one managed to roll up the car putting a crack in the windshield with its elbow, but it wasn't enough to stop him from pressing on. In the rearview mirror he can see it wriggling its limbs arching its aching back from the street. The boathouse is just a corner away and the last minute up the street seemed like hours before the car screeched to a hault in front of the building. He didn't bother with closing the door once he exits the front seat, just opened the back and pulled L out. The door was closed but not locked, entering, he sets the man to lay down across a backless bench before rushing to the door, locking it. Seeing that the counter was not attached to anything he presses his back against the side of it, digs his heals in then shoves the counter infront of the door to barracade them in. Light walks over to the bench sitting himself on the floor, leaning his back against the wooden seat.

'What the hell is going on now?' He wonders while trying to calm his heart. 'When did I leave the other apartment?' He looks over at a boat radio that crackles to life, Matt's voice comes over it with the safety announcements. He ignores it, while taking comfort in the fact that someone is out there. 'Am I in the other world? Or am I back in reality?' Removing his cellphone from his pocket, he flips it open then speed dials Near. He has to ask him what he did wrong because he saw Mikami but got nothing out of it. He was so thankful the kid had the foresight to add his number into it when he'd gone to the bathroom at his house. Waiting out the rings, he wonders if its a bad time to call. Did it matter? Look at the situation he's in.

"Hello?"

"Near, I-.."

"Light?"

That voice doesn't sound at all like the dead drawl of the young man, it sounds more like...

"Mikami."

"Hey..." His voice is low, it sounds almost as if he's half asleep. "How did you get this number?"

Light can feel tears welling in his eyes hearing the man's voice, hearing it and knowing that its actually speaking to him. "..." He tried to speak but his voice remained in his throat.

"I miss you, you know." Mikami goes on talking as if he's speaking to himself, like rehersing what he would say to Light had he actually been on the phone. "I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

"It would have..." He heard his voice whisper. Light was almost afraid that if he spoke too much whatever connection this conversation was happening on would disconnect and he would never talk to Mikami again.

"I miss you, you know. I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

Light shakes his head. He doesn't want this weird moment to go on, he wants Mikami to continue speaking to him as he had. "Mikami?"

"I'm sorry, I'm repeating myself." He seems to smile on his end. "How are you?"

"I'm..." He trails off, unsure of how to answer the question.

"I know what you mean, I'm just an 'I'm' too."

There's a brief silence between them, but Light urges the man back. "Please keep talking."

Light knew all the things he should be saying to the man but none of them would come out. He can't break up with Mikami, not over the phone, and he can't end it knowing that he'll send the man off to his next life on that bad note of a break up. God, how can he tell the man he loves that he's dead?

"I put a real headcase behind bars, did you hear about it? It must have been on the news or in the papers back then?"

"I heard." He lied. He knew nothing about that condeming trial up until arriving here.

"Where are you? Do you still live in Kanto?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to go back there someday."

"You should. You should come back with me."

Its quiet a moment. "Where are you right now?"

"Why do you keep asking that?"

A few huffs of laughter come over the phone before the line dies.

Shaken, he's glad he didn't blurt out his location. Who was that? Lowering the phone to the floor, he turns his head to check on L. He's still out cold. Reaching for his neck with index and middle finger he checks the man's vitals, a steady pulse greets his finger tips; relieved, Light stands up going over to the window to look out. The car is in tact; the road it seems is littered with those things only none of them are moving, they're just standing still like twisted freakish trees in concrete. Remembering the last time he was at the boathouse, Light walks to the back door to check if it were secure. If anything is living in the lake, let it stay there.

An hour passed, then a half. Restless, Light walks around the room checking this and looking at that; he removed his shirt tying it around L's bare lap like an apron, he was sure the man would want to keep some dignity between them- if he ever woke up. He found a notepad and pen in the drawer of the counter he'd shoved against the door, fingering them a moment, he takes them out walking them over to the bench. Having a seat on the floor, he places the pad against his bent knees; the journalist had intended to maybe doodle a little bit but instead he found himself writing, one page became two, two became four; Light scribbled things out and tore off sheets, only to write them over with different wording. Its very dark and dank in the building, but there's enough light for the man to see that he isn't running over his words and as for the dank smell, he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding his breath until now. He wrote for hours, not even realizing that the siren had stopped and morning was approaching. His eyelids grew heavy, the eyes themselves dry and strained from writing in the dark but around three he had finished what he was doing, dropping the pad to the floor letting it fall from his aching hands.

A low moan came from the man on the bench; Light turns on his side, expression curious. "L?" He catches his breath seeing the man's hand go up to his forehead to remove his dark bangs from out of his face. Looking down, he sees that L's feet are back in place as well, the blood on his neck remains, drying, but there is no slice there. Its almost as if nothing had ever happened to him at all. Was he in the other world before? If so, when had he gone to sleep? He really should set the alarm on his watch incase these weird sleep walking habits don't stop. In a town like this, its too dangerous.

"Light?"

"Are you ok?" Asks the male, grabbing a hold of the man's hand.

Noticing his surroundings he replies. "I'm fine, but, where are we?"

"The boathouse on Nathan." He scoots himself up to sit on the bench, placing a hand to L's back as the man sits upright.

L made a thoughtful sound before asking. "And what are we doing here?"

'If I tell him the truth, who knows what will come out of it. L may disappear forever.' Hearing what he'd just thought over, he thinks again. 'Isn't that the goal, though, to free him from his suffering- to free all of Silent Hill?' But when he looks at L, that bit of confusion on his handsome face, he can't bring himself to lose him just yet. This is his last day in this town before the reset, he should spend it contacting Near and figuring out how to get to Mikami, as for L...

"You don't remember what happened back at the apartment?"

L's thumb came up to his lips, eyes roll up to the ceiling as he thinks for a moment about the question. "I remember helping you out of the hall window... getting you to have dinner with me..." The next thought made the man smile. "We had sex... after that, I don't remember a thing. Why, what's happened?" He gasps.

Light grabbed the man's face in his hands, pressing their lips together, he kisses L in complete relief that the man is both alright and doesn't remember the horrible thing that his brother had done to him. The advertisor made an appreciative hum during the kiss, speaking when Light's lips move to his throat.

"Am I drunk?" He asked out of thinking it was weird that he didn't recall anything past having sex. That, or Light was just that good.

Light only laughed into the man's mouth, pressing forward so that L lays back on the bench. Moving on top of him, one leg set between the other mans, he let his relief guide his hips to grind into L's groin, groaning slightly when L responded by grinding back. Seeing that his only coverage was a flimsy shirt, his arousal pressed eagerly onto Light's hip, and he shudders like a small earthquake is happening inside of him when a tickling hand smooths its way up L's thigh, the thumb brushing gently against his member. The journalist lifts his hips a bit to set his hand to a better position, so he can latch onto the hot girth and give it some good strong strokes up and down. If the kiss weren't so dizzying L was sure his moan would have been audible from the burning feeling rushing through him from the direct attention to his sex.

L's hands scrape along Light's lower back, dipping just below the waistband of the man's pants. Moving one hand to the front of the jeans, he unfastens them to gain better access inside. Light groaned loudly into L's neck, muttering something in Japanese into the other man's mouth due to L's finger brushing a light trail between his cheeks, and his entrance receiving a little extra strength from the ghosting touch caused his back to arch and hips to rock back into the pressure but it was gone too soon. L is lifted onto Light's lap after the quickest adjustment to his pants is made so that his member is shortly exposed to the world before its steered right into the man's thin body. It amazed Light still that L had muscle mass of any kind considering how the man's frame looks when he's dressed, but underneath is an impressive package. One arm secured around Light's shoulders, the other scooped around the man's lower back, nails dug in deep; L wastes no time bobbing his hips up and down seeking deeper pleasure and getting what he desired and his body jerked suddenly when the surge of rolling fire rushed up his spine again and again at his will.

Light was reduced to a breathless mess; his erection getting the sweetest treatment from L's contracting walls. Loose to tight, loose to tight; it was getting hard to breathe in the dank smelling air that is pleasently being replaced with a rich musky scent of L's leaking head, none-the-less, his panting becomes more shallow and his mouth leaves the kiss in hopes of some air. But L's legs grappling him, closing him within them sent him over the edge taking the man with him as warmth radiated through his body. Their panting hard and heavy they catch their breaths, no words being said in the meantime.

"L, will you come with me?" Asks Light, hand moving through the man's dark hair as if he's trying to comb it with his fingers.

"I don't think I have a choice in the matter." He looks down at the shirt still tied around his waist.

Smiling, Light kisses him on the lips as an apology before freeing himself from the man's hold. "Here, you can take my shorts." He removes his jeans and boxers handing them over to L to wear with his shirt.

The advertisor begins arranging the clothes on his body watching Light, who's moving about the room. "Where are we going?"

"To the police station."

"Why?"

"Its safer there, and you can get some clothes."

"Why not just go back to the apartment?"

"Its not safe. I'd rather you sit with a friend of mine."

Finding that strange, L nods. "Light... I'm sorry about not telling you."

Turning his head at the memory those words held, he waits for the rest hoping that L won't start falling apart again. "About what?"

The man stands walking over to the window next to Light to look out into the empty street. "When I was younger, my brother used to" He thought for a better word and came up with. "be intimate with me."

Light's eye twitched hearing L's choice of wording. It wasn't like that at all. "It doesn't matter." He lied. "You're fine, aren't you?"

"More or less." L nods, glad that Light had taken it so well. Most people who knew have thrown stones. "I thought that I should tell you incase you were wondering about some things." He meant the lack of resistance.

"No. Its personal, private, you didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." It wasn't as if L were waving it as a flag of some sort, he actually sounded pained by the admittance. "Remember when you asked me before, about how I felt about you?"

L nods recalling the sting of not getting an answer.

"Honestly, I think that I'm starting to fall for you; which is why I have to keep you safe."

"From what?"

Ignoring the question he starts to push the counter, getting help from L without asking or gesturing. "There's no time to explain, I just need to do something today then I'll be back on Monday. I promise."

"Alright."

The door is pulled open, all creatures have retreated with the night. He climbs into the front seat, L joins him in the car in the passangers side. As Light drove he kept glancing at L almost to make sure that he was still there. L kept quiet the entire trip into Central, his gaze out the window. Light wonders what he's thinking about while at the same time wonders what he himself is thinking by promising to return after the reset. Didn't he make a promise to himself that he would never return to Silent Hill for as long as he lived. Mello may enjoy the dangers of almost getting stuck here, but Light can't end up like Near. He just can't.

...

The car pulls up at the Central police station around 6:38 a.m. Light reaches across to the glove compartment popping it open to remove one of the two guns hidden within it. A glance at L he caught the male cocking a brow at the weapon.

"For protection." He explained.

"You've gotten paranoid staying here. You do know that."

"I'm not paranoid, you're just blind." He said remembering what Matt had told him about seeing nothing when he was being attacked that first day. "I'll be back, keep the doors locked."

L gave him a skeptical look before he closed the door. He hadn't been five steps passed the car when the passangers door opened. L stepped out giving himself a stretch. Light didn't look the least bit surprised by L's actions but heard himself saying.

"Didn't I say to stay in the car?"

"I know judo; do you think I'm an innocent who can't defend himself?"

Shoulders slumped, he pictures L trying to fend off monsters with fists and flying kicks. Sighing, he turns back to the car opening the passanger door to grab the other gun. "Here. Do you know how to use it?"

L has the handle of the gun pinched between his fingers giving it a quick study. "It doesn't seem too hard, just aim and pull the trigger." He aims and pretends to pull the trigger. "Pow."

Snickering Light shakes his head. If it weren't so damned cute, he'd take the gun back. The last thing he needs is to get shot from a miss-fire. Cautiously, he starts for the station. Beyond the slightly tinted windows he sees eratic movement but its at least from a single person. Looking around he checks the sky for the ashy snow, a ring catches his attention bringing it forward to where L just strolled into the police station. Defeated in his need for caution he calmly walks into the police station.

"Hey Light." Matt waves a hand. "What are you doing here so early?" After scratching his brownish red hair he corrects himself. "Scratch that, what are you doing here at all actually."

Light could sock the man after yesterday, but no, Mello should be his real target as Matt was so far gone he doubted he knew he was even in the room with them. "Matt, I need a favor from you."

"Okay, what?"

"I need you to watch L for me." He nods over to where said man is looking at Wanted posters.

"Excuse me?" He didn't so much turn himself around but his head crooked back to look over his shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I didn't say that. All I want is for you to stay put while I take care of some things today."

"And how long is it that I'm supposed to "stay put"?"

Light can hear the air quotes around his words, watching as L comes over to them. "I don't know, hopefully not long." He can't meet L's dark gaze, choosing to look at Matt instead. "Do you know where Mello is right now?"

"Probably Cafe Mist."

"I know where that is." He recalls it from when L took him for breakfast the morning he'd almost drowned.

"Will you answer me this time? Why do I need to stay here?"

"Because, I don't want you to be alone!" He hadn't meant to shout but he hates when people don't listen. Patience was never his strong suite in the longer run of things he could brush off, especially when it was for something important like this. Calming his tone, though, L hardly seemed fazed by it he says. "I just have to do something, one little thing and I'll be back. I want you to stay here because Matt will keep you company and he's a good guy."

"Its true. I am good company." He nods, beaming from the compliment.

L looks from Light to Matt then moves away from them to continue looking about the station.

"What's this all about? You give up on Mikami, or something?" He looks over Light's shoulder. "He is good looking, though, you sure like guys with black hair don't you. Is that your type or something?"

Light grips Matt's shoulder to get him to focus on something useful. "Here. If I don't come back Monday, please give this to L- no time before." He whispers shoving a piece of folded up paper into the gamer's hand.

"O..kay." He stuffs it into his pocket. "But what are you gonna do in the meantime?"

"I can't tell you, its sort of an unsaid promise because of Mello. But, trust me, its important."

Nodding, he watches L moving about the room. "Listen, we're sorry for yesterday. We sort of thought that you were having a good time or something and Mello wanted to say goodbye to me and we went into the bedroom and by the time we were done, you were gone."

He was pissed at them for not watching his nearly conscious body; from what L told him he could have fallen to his death from the 3 story drop after jumping to the next building, but he could understand their reason as he did a little of that of his own an hour ago. Mello must be a wreck, being in love with someone who isn't a someone anymore and lives in such a dangerous place. One slip-up and its over for you, but in the end you can stay by their side rather than having to go back and forth. Shaking away those sorts of thoughts, he remembers his family back home in Kanto then heads for the door.

"You should wait around here, Mello is going to work today so he'll probably come by. I'd hurry if I were you, though, Mello never sticks around long on a Sunday." He snickers. "Can you believe he buys into the whole tourist attraction of" He wriggles his fingers menacingly. "The Anniversary drawing neeear." He laughs a little more this time. "Light, please don't tell me that you let Mello's paranoia get to you?" He asks looking down at the gun clutched in the journalist's hand.

"He has." L chimes in from the next room.

"I'm not paranoid. I have to go." He walks over to L who's exiting the room. Giving him the briefest kiss, he then turns his attention back to Matt. "Can you find something for him to put on?"

The gamer nods. "Uumm, wouldn't you like a shirt or something too?" He points to the man's bare chest.

Light had forgotten all about that; what a sight he and L must be together. Walking back into the room he waits a moment for Matt to return. Taking the offered black shirt with a S.H.P.D crest on it. L removed the sullied shirt Light had given him, slipping into a pair of sweat pants and the other police shirt Matt brought out. Thanking the gamer Light hurries to the door, side stepping a cop that's coming in. Glad to see that the city is waking up, he climbs into his car wondering where the garbage truck might come in from so that he can flag the blond down. Looking back toward the station he isn't surprised to see a little glowing square get passed off to L from Matt showing off his handheld. That should keep him from wandering too much. He never understood some videogames, though, in his younger years he did own quite a few but those were mostly sports games never anything long. After an hour and fiftteen mintutes of waiting he spots the truck heading toward the bridge. Starting the car he follows closely after him, hoping the man has at least a little White Claudia on him if he has enough balls to smoke the stuff normally. How can he take going to that other world, does it give him some sick kind of rush? Maybe he's just trigger happy and likes the challange. Or maybe a part of him wants to end Matt's suffering but he chickens out each time.

It wasn't until they hit Bachman that Mello pulled the truck to a stop. Looking out the window he seemed to roll his eyes before exiting the car; blue jump suit looking like loose skin on his thin frame. "What is it now? I helped you out, so get lost."

"Be lucky I don't put a bullet in your head!" Light snaps exiting his car as well. "Do you realize that I jumped out of a window to the next building? If L hadn't seen me I could have fallen to my death."

"How is it my fault that you started moving? I tied you down."

"No, you tied me up. And seeing how that turned out, I'm lucky you didn't tie me down because I could have died right there when the ceiling came down into the burning room I woke up in."

Mello's teal eyes widen in shock. "You... saw the fire? Where's Matt?" His tone is concerned and worried that Light had done something stupid. He knows Matt grew up in this town, he was only supposed to be looking for Mikami.

"At the station in Central, he's with L."

The tension leaves him. "So then what do you want? Didn't you find Mikami?"

"I did, but I couldn't talk to him. I came back here to speak with Near and see if he can tell me what I did wrong." He looks down the road to where Levin street is. "Do you have any White Claudia on you?"

"Yeah." He looks light over suspiciously. "Why do you need it?"

"I need to go back." He starts for his car. "This time I will free Mikami of this place, but I need your help getting to the otherside again."

Mello stared after Light's retreating back, then with a roll of his eyes he says a hefty. "Fine. But this is the last time." Walking back to his truck he waits for Light to lead the way to Near's place and follows.

...

"Mistake number one was getting tied up. Mello was it? You could have gotten Light killed by that stupid mistake, but then you didn't really know so it really isn't your fault." He takes a seat on the couch, hand reaching to start up a fire engine that's on the coffee table.

"Who are you calling stupid?" Barks the blond watching the child play with his toy as if he's the only one in the room.

"The mistake." Says Near. "Do you consider yourself a mistake, Mello?" He asks calmly.

Light couldn't help but hide a snicker at the comment. From anyone else it would have come off as an insult, but from Near it just sounded as if he were talking to no one in particular.

Mello grit his teeth, fist balled.

"Did you manage to talk to Mikami?" Near focuses now on Light, seeing as how he'd won round one.

"No. I did see him, though, the place where he died- its in the tower at the bridge."

"Hmm." He intones thoughtfully.

"So, what was the problem."

Near is quiet a moment, then replies. "It seems that Mikami is bound in two places. Here and where you sent him after he'd missed the reset in those three months he was with you in Kanto."

'So he was the one that started the rift between here and there.' Thinks Mello glaring at Light for making his life a living hell with the world growing darker and darker. The time within here and there shortening with each snow fall. Pretty soon the whole damn place will be nothing but a moving cemetery- well, of the worst kind. Seeing them as people will no longer be possible, there will be nothing but chared human's walking the earth, or those creepy headless things in the outskirts. He never understood what went on there and he didn't want to know. Having to clean up dead bodies that appear in trash cans after this Near person frees the soul from this place was enough to keep him busy for months and years. He had always wondered how it were possible for these bodies to show up. Now he knows, but honestly he never expected this kid. He'd seen flyers before about how the people should speak with him, but he just figured the flyers were some sort of reflection of the kids innerself- people wanna look good right? Mello had to mentally slap himself for complimenting the kids looks, his gaze snapping away when he caught Near watching him.

Smirking, the albino child then turns his attention back to Light. "We'll have to recover where his soul drifted to in order to get him back on the right course, once we do that you can speak freely to him, I don't need to tell you about the urgency in the matter. Only say what needs to be said, don't expand your time with him longer than it needs to be."

"I won't." He said, though, inside he felt unsure. He didn't know who the hell he was on the phone with but it left his insides stirring.

Digging into the pocket of his jumpsuit, Mello holds out a white stick to the child. "Here. Its the only one I have so you'd better do this right."

"Thanks. But I won't be needing that. I can get there on my own, and I'll be taking Mr. Yagami with me."

Cocking a brow, Light parts his lips to speak but it seemed that Near was already ahead of him in thought.

"The reason I sent you to them is so that you could take care of the matter on your own; as I told you when we'd spoken before you and I share a gift for seeing spirits, only difference is that we can communicate with them whereas others can't. You, Light Yagami, are a novice and can't manipulate the worlds as I can so I have to help you. The reason I didn't do so in the first place is because I've never tried it with another person before and it may not have worked."

"Its fine and I'm ready to go whenever you can take us there."

Listening quietly, Mello takes that as his insentive to go. "If that's settled then I'm-..."

"No." Near says tightly. "You have to stay here. Mr. Watari, my aid, is gone for the day and I need you to watch our bodies while we're on the otherside. If we look too banged up, you'll have to wake us up manually if I can't find a way to pull out."

The two sit in a dead locked gaze. It was Mello to break contact first, walking over to an arm chair he lounges in it as if it were his own; one leg draped over the arm of the chair, the other leg to the floor, leaving him to look shamelessly splayed out for sex or something close to it. "Just see that he does it this time. Yagami seems as bright as a wet sheet of paper."

"To give paper any intellengence at all leaves your own questionable." Standing from his seat, he stands before Light.

The journalist caught his breath when the child's hands come up to his temples.

"Put your arms around me."

Doing as he's told he wonders out loud. "Will this help?" He felt weird holding onto an eighteen year old that looks like a fourteen year old.

"No. But I don't wanna hit the floor when we cross over." His dark grey eyes close and he breathes in deeply taking in Light's scent of sex, and natural body odor. When his senses and mind are swimming, he can feel his spirit pushing forward from his body.

Mello watches, mouth parted in shock seeing a white mist leave the childs form going into Light's body. How can this be real? If he didn't see half the things he's seen being here, he never would have allowed himself to believe this. When Near's body slammed into Light's both men remain clutched in each others arms, slumped on the couch. It looked like an uncomfortable angle and he wondered about moving them. He needed only to lift Light's leg to lay across the couch anyway and got up to do so, with a grunt he moves the man's legs to rest along the length of the couch, the young boy's body moved right along with the action. He looked like a father sleeping with his child in his arms. He takes his place back on the armchair, candy bar pulled from his pocket to be eaten as he waits. He only hoped this little trip didn't take long.

** ** **

Light's eyes scrunch before opening. Looking around a room colored in the moon's blue he sees that he's in the apartment and alone. Sitting up of his own will he lets out a relieved breath but when he tries to stand the room spins dropping him back onto the bed, a hand holding the side of his head.

"Light, where are you?"

Near sounded weird when his voice is semi-shouting. It sounds as if he's in L's apartment. "Near, I'm in here- across the hall." He calls back.

Foot steps are heard in the main room of the apartment before the bedroom door opens. The male seemed happy to see him as he walks over to the bed.

"I feel like my mind is swimming in paste."

"It passes. Until then, stay close to me," He takes Light's hand. "I can't have you leaving before we get anywhere with this." He starts for the door.

Curious, Light asks. "Near, are you in L's spirit?"

"I'm in no one's spirit, neither are you- that's how the gift works." He looks around in the main room, his dark gaze casting over to this shadow and that as if looking for something. "I think the only reason I ended up at this 'L' person's place is because I smelled him on you before bringing us here."

Light looked hot with guilt but Near let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm not judging you, Light, feelings are fickle, do whatever you want with them. My only concern is the issue at hand."

They start for the exit to the hall; hands still clasped.

"You've encountered Pyramid Head more than me, have you found any weaknesses to help us get rid of him?"

Light thinks for a moment. "It isn't exactly easy to look for weaknesses on a person who's trying to kill you." He then adds. "I did manage to pull one of his eyes out, though."

"Then bullets will work on him. Where's the gun you were carrying when we came here?"

"Still in the bedroom." He figures when he feels that his free hand isn't holding it. "I'll get it, my headache seems to be leaving, anyhow." Releasing the boy's hand he starts across the room.

He heard a strange sort of groan or creak before having to fall back onto his butt from the large sword coming up through the floor in front of him. Quickly, Light scoots away before the thing came slamming down over his head to split him down the middle and it instead sliced through the floor. Near watched, bewildered at the scene, as the sword came up again and again anywhere Light seemed to move. Pyramid Head must be in the apartment below them!

"Light sit still, he can hear where you're moving to!" He calls to the man who's trying his hardest to escape the deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

"Easier said than done!" He slams his back against the wall, finally managing to stand up.

The sword came up one last time before the onslaught stilled. A weird sound like snorting caught their ears then. The sword came up three times in random places, once before Near, who turned his head shuddering in elated fear that the man retracted the sword rather than taking a slice with it. The clogged sniffing sounds again then quiets completely.

"Is he gone?" Near asks; breathing a little heavier then he would have liked for it to be.

"I doubt it. He may be looking for the apartment we're in. Near-.." He calls after the boy when he darts across the room towards the kitchen. "What are you doing?" He asks when he hears a drawer sliding open on its track.

"You can't be the only one with a weapon; its up to both of us to kill him."

"No, you should stay hidden somewhere. You're better at this than I am, you can still save Mikami for me."

"I didn't come here to stop existing, Light, I came to help you free another victim of this place. What makes you think that if you were to die that I could handle this on my own?" He walks out of the kitchen holding the largest knife he could find in the drawer. "We're in this together."

Their heads whip towards the door.

"That's him. Hide in the closet."

"I already said that-.."

"I'm not telling you to stay out of it, I just think it would be easier for you to sneak up on him then to directly assalt him." He mentions while nodding at the gun in his hand. "Now hurry!"

Skeptical, Near crosses the room, hiding in the coat closet; the door remains cracked so that he can watch for an opportunity to strike. He's never been one to submit to many emotions so he wasn't about to start now. He can't let himself be afraid; the unpredictability of where fires will start, or flaming projectiles will land was a high enough risk, but most of those were residual and easy to avoid after he's been enough times. B is an intellegent haunting doing as he wishes with whatever or whomever comes his way. But that's no excuse, fear will only make him slow and careless. He and Light can do this. Readjusting his grip on the knife, he quiets his breathing.

The door slamming in caused both men to jump our of their skin from start. Light points the gun at the door waiting for the man to come in; B is slow with that sword in his hand, getting a good shot in should be no problem. But his plans take an unexpected turn as he falls hard onto his side to avoid the large weapon that came whizzing into the room like an arrow; it stabbed into the wall going two feet through before it held there. As B trudged into the room, a battle howl shrieked from his lump covered mouth. Light planned to open fire right then but another unexpected turn came as Mikami emerged from his bedroom; an ax in hand, he swings it through the air right into the madman's neck. Light recalls the dream he had when he'd first stayed in the apartment; Mikami did exactly the same thing he had then. Did he come across the man and attempt to kill him as well? What happened that he didn't? Mikami vanished in a clap of smoke, as if he were nothing more than a mirage. Recovering from his muddled state, Light aims the gun from where he is on the floor. The shot fired off, the bullet landing in B's chest causing him to stagger back a step but he pressed forward towards him.

Taking three more shots, Light gets up from the floor when Pyramid Head drops to his bleeding knee. It didn't detain him for long, though. His hand grips the handle of his sword and in one swift jerk he pulls it from the wall. Near watches for a chance, presuming that when B goes to work his large weapon he can strike then, but B whipped the thing gracefully, it looked no heavier than if he were to swing his own arm through the air. But the damage its doing is definitely not that of a hand slapping about and everything touched is being easily crushed or sliced in two. He's practically bringing down the entire apartment! All Light can do is dodge, no clear shots are left open for him.

Near heard the groan before Light, and ran from the closet for the door. "Light, the floor!" He calls in to him.

Light didn't need it any clearer than that as he hurries towards the hall, but its a little too late as the floor caves in taking him and B with it. The two of them lay in the broken rubble and dust. Light was the first to recover but when he tries to move he cries out in pain. Pulling a nail from his arm by yanking the board its stuck to away from him, he holds his hand to the hole to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Looking up through the hole at the floor he'd fallen from, he sees that Near is gone. A few pained whimpers come from him as his pained legs try to stand.

"Ugh!" His head slams back onto the broken pile covering the floor from a punch he'd just received. Light can feel B's weight drop down over his body as he straddles his hips, the man's hands wrap firmly around his neck. Just when Light thinks that he's going to be strangled to death, one hand lets go and starts to pull at his face beneath his eye!

"Eeeeye fooor eeeye." Growls the man; the tip of his tumor touching Light's chin due to the length of it.

Light let out a desparate scream when the man's fingernail caught under his eye.

...

Mello is staring in horror at the blood staining Light's arm, he's even more shocked by the tear of blood running down from the man's closed left eye. He reached out to shake them, wake them up. After all he had agreed to watch them, but maybe they were handling things but its a little rough and tumble right now. Last thing he wanted was more lip from the brat and angst from the grieving journalist. Better to just leave them alone.

Light bucked and struggled to get free, his head tossing left and right to keep the man from pulling his eye from its socket. He heard the foot steps before Pyramid Head and squeezed his eyes shut when a large boil was plunged clean through by the knife Near weilded, having it burst open. Blood and puss sprayed over both of them, moreso when Near moved the knife in a zig-zag to cause further injury until he was bashed away; knocking into the wall, the younger male coiled in on himself. Ducking his head when B came over and jerked him to his feet by the front of his shirt. He waited for further pain to come but the male seemed only to stare at him. His eyes raised before his dipped head came up to meet the man's, or whatever's, gaze directly. B's body began to shake, Near's shirt released dropping him to the floor. He tried to run but he's slammed into the wall with a hand to his forehead to pin him there. The tumor around B's head slowly receeded back into his brain revealing the man he was before darkness engulfed him.

"L." He whispered while pressing himself into Near.

The teen shook his head at what the man said, left surprised when B's arms wrap around him bringing him to his knees with him. What the hell was going on? Is he having an episode? Light watched in the distance, knowing exactly what was going on. He had always thought that Near and L's dead gaze was similar and in the darkness, all covered in blood Near's hair honestly does look black. B must see his brother in the male.

"Y-..yes B, i-..its me." Mutters Near more in confusion than fear.

The man laughed manically. "I thought you had died. I thought that I killed you but... you're here."

Light's eyes flashed hearing the man's laughter. It was the same as the one he'd heard over the phone when he thought he was talking to Mikami.

"Let's go home, B." Near continued to lie, though, in truth he sounded nothing like L. He lacked L's wonder and mock, Near was simply deadpan.

The creature nods before standing. With Near out of the way, it gave Light the perfect chance for the perfect shot and with the gun to the back of the man's head, he fired. The scream could have shook the building as B's right eye was blown out from the back. Near cried out as well, dropping down to the floor holding his leg. Light had no time to tend to the boy's wound, he had to finish the blind killer off. B staggered away from Near, again stun making him dig in the hole within his head and the tumor started to return in slow pulsating growths. But Light wasn't about to let the man's strength return and with every ounce of energy he had left he charged at him shoving him with his shoulder knocking him through the window. Hearing the grunts of pain, Light hurries to Near's side.

"Are you alright?"

"The bullet grazed my leg, I don't think I can walk on it. Nevermind me, though, check to see if he's dead. Hurry!"

Going over to the window, almost losing his footing from the loose floorboards, Light looks down at the street. He expected the man to be gone, to already be on his way back up to the apartment, but there he lay. Beyond Birthday... Dineas Elliot... dying in the street, head split open in the back and spine busted keeping his limbs from moving even if he wanted them too. And after two hard breaths, the man smiled and lay still.

...

Light has Near piggybacked to help him move around faster. They're in the hall of the apartment building wondering how to get to old town sooner than later. Its dark outside, that much they know, but the time is off everywhere anyhow so its hard to say exactly when the accident will truly happen.

"One of these doors should take us to old town, or close enough to it." Near says over his shoulder.

"That's impossible." Light starts for the elevator.

"No. Where we are is considered 'nowhere'. This isn't like going to the other world with the White Claudia, I've brought us here on spiritual energy coming from everywhere, which makes the air nothing but large portals. Do you understand?"

"I can... Whereas with the herb I'm brought to this world as it exist, but with your gift its the entire world we're in rather than a borrowed energy from a soul."

"You catch on quick, Light." Looking around the hall, he points to a door. "Let's try that one over there. We have to hurry from the apartment, we may have helped Mikami escape, but B isn't really gone, as long as there's someone that fears him, he'll only keep coming back."

"Okay.." He starts toward apartment 202 but pauses. His gaze catches sight of a pale blur heading into 204. It looked... it looked like Mikami. "Did you see that?"

Looking around, Near shakes his head.

"We should go this way, it may sound weird but, I think I just saw Mikami go in." He's walking two doors down. "He may be trying to guide us."

It didn't seem impossible, strange, but not impossible. Light and Mikami have some sort of connection, and it must be projecting even without the deceased man having any knowledge of it. Light opens the door. It looked like a regular apartment room, that is until he stepped through it. The room was moving suddenly, and there was music playing. No they're not in a room they're...

"We're at the amusement park." Near looks around them as the merry-go-round turned them in a full circle on repeat.

"How can we be...?" His words trail off when Near speaks again.

"The shifting worlds, Light. Nevermind that, though, do you see Mikami again?"

Looking around as far as his vision expands, but he saw no sign of the man. Walking forward, careful to step lively so that they wouldn't fall over from the spinning machine, he heads towards the stairs stepping down them swiftly. He didn't need to be told to keep a sharp eye out for Mikami, he was just glad that the machines and signs and things lit the place up. The darkness in the apartment was concerning and frightening, way to easy for something horrible to hide away in. But here, he can see everything, which is how he saw.

"What are those?"

"They're the victims who died here. Unlike with the herb, they're seen as they are on this side- avoid them, Light" There's sudden panic in Near's tone. "these souls have the ability to posses you and its nearly impossible not to follow them to their death."

"Right."

Light moves quickly but carefully through the invisible mob, it was hard for him to simply sprint to the next ride for a bit of safety due to the fact that one minute he would be walking a clear path then one would simply appear out of nowhere in front of them. A loud whiff cut through the air right before an explosive boom.

"Its starting." Near looks into the sky.

Screams are heard all around them, man, woman, and child; the dark mist began running about frantically. Light watches his steps but one of the people ran through him, regardless. The feeling was cold, fearful, and staggering. He almost fell to his knees from the pain and fear running through him, but Near's voice snapped him out of it.

"Light, let's move! Its not safe here."

More explosions rack through the sky above them, some large pieces scatter about the area breaking the machines and cracking small holes in the ground.

"I have to find my son first! He went to the restroom..."

Near cocked a thin brow, then dug his finger into the small hole in the journalist's arm.

"Aaaa!" The physical pain cut through any haunt that possessed his body, and with urgency he stands rushing off. "Keep your finger in my arm! I'm gonna cut through." He cried out again as the teen's finger dug a little further. But he withheld the rest of his pained yells. Making his ways around the park, watching out only for the large burning pieces of metal or concrete, he managed to get onto a booth by the ferris wheel. Looking out over the, due to the damage its taking, slowly darkening park. "Over there!" He points before running off in the direction of a machine with flying elephants. It wasn't easy to see the holes being made in the ground but luckily they made it over without Light stumbling too much. Climbing the four stairs he opens the little gate onto the ride and the two have a drop painfully to the ground.

Gritting his teeth, he reaches behind him shoving Near off of his back. "You can stop poking me now." He applies pressure to his wounded arm. Looking around he asks. "Where are we?"

A loud boom sounds from overhead.

"I think we're in the sewers." He replies after taking a deep whiff. Feeling the ground shake; sounds of crumpling bits of rock following, Near stands up only to kneel back down. He had no idea getting shot hurt so much- even from a graze!

"Are you alright? You're leg is still bothering you?"

"Yes. But it's not important right now, besides, I'll only feel it when I'm here, once we get back the pain will be gone."

It didn't exactly make Light feel any better about it, but he nods. "I'm sorry that I shot you."

"It was an accident from the bullet exiting Pyramid Head, its not a big deal."

"It doesn't mean I don't feel guilty over it." He reaches out tousling the kids hair like he was his younger sister. "Near, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. But talk as we move, we don't wanna get crushed down here." Standing, he leans heavily against a wall. Muck and dampness greet his palm. Making a face of distaste, he starts forward.

"Here, I can still carry you." Standing in front of Near he crouches down. "Come on. I really don't mind."

Climbing back onto Light's back he rest his cheek against Light's shoulder. Being here with two people really is taking a lot out of him, he's more tired then he would have given thought to. "So what is it that you wanted to know?"

"Its... you know how my keeping Mikami from being here caused a crack in this place?" He could feel Near nod, his cheek brushing his shoulder. "Well, I was wondering if it would be the same if I took someone out."

"You mean this L person you've grown fond of."

"...Yeah."

"You could remove him, but can you live with a ghost, Light? Live with someone who doesn't know they're dead, someone who will be virtually invisible to nearly all the world? Do you really think he could handle a life of solitude with you?"

"L's had it hard growing up, he was invisible anyway unless someone was insulting him because of his brother. I don't think that L would mind at all."

"Hm." Near could only smirk at the man's resolve. "You're strange, Light Yagami. I've never met anyone like you before."

"How so?"

"You generally care about someone even when you're using them, its strange."

Light didn't believe that to be true, but then Near has only known what he's shown to him so he can see how the profit would come to that state of mind. "So is there a way?"

"Yes. You have to find L's soul and get possessed by him, once you've accomplished that you can walk out of here and he'll go right along with you."

"Its that simple?"

"If by 'simple' you mean to tell me that you can override all of L's thoughts and feelings to live as you are now, while having his soul bound to you, than yes," He shifts a bit during a turn around a corner. "it is that simple."

"All of L, I have to consume."

"Yes."

Light thinks quietly as they make their way to a patch of light coming from what they hope is a manhole. "I can do it, that's what a relationship is based on, right? Just tell me how."

"Later, once we get out of here."

"Okay."

"May I ask you a question, Light?" He asks when seeing a nod. "How can you love a ghost?"

"Honestly, I don't look at him as a ghost. I can see him, and touch him; L makes me smile. I wouldn't care if I imagined him, I think I'd love him either way." After a thought he adds. "Even if, as you say, emotions are fickle. As long as it isn't in the same period of time, you can love as many people as you like." Looking up at the lights overhead that cut in and out, he kneels down. "Can you climb? I'll be behind you if you feel yourself falling, but try to make it out quickly if you can so the injury doesn't get worse."

"You don't have to tell me that." He starts up the cold metal ladder, allowing his injured leg to lag a bit in stepping up the rung.

Light comes up behind him. The two brace themselves steady when a rumble shakes the ground above them. When the ground steadies, Light climbs a bit higher up to shove at the manhole cover. Pushing it aside he waits for Near to climb out then joins him on the street of old town.

"Damn it." He mutters.

"What is it?"

"The house has already collapsed, Mikami is on his way to the tower." Waiting for Near to climb onto his back he starts off for the bridge, hoping the fastest route there hasn't caved in yet. Light is winded shortly, breaths coming in and out hard and steady.

"If I'm slowing you down then leave me here, I'll be fine."

"No. I'm fine carrying you; I'm just pushing myself because we're running out of time." Feeling that his breaths are caught, he starts off again. It was almost as if his senses have been down-sized being here this way, unlike his borrowing a soul to come where every scent of ash and burned skin suffocated his lungs. He really needs to learn that hot-wire trick of Matt's, this trip would have gone a lot better.

By the time Light reached the bridge his entire body was on fire with raw nerves on the verge of breaking down from being pushed too hard.

"The rest is up to you, you only need to talk to him and he'll listen." Letting his body slip from Light's hold, Near grabs onto the railing for support.

Light races up the stairs of the tower, pulling the door open quickly. "Mikami!"

Turning his head the man looks shocked and confused. "Light... what are you doing here?"

Panting, Light crosses the short distance pulling Mikami into his arms. It felt so good to hold him again he was almost in tears but instead starts to laugh.

Smiling, he holds Light back. "I'm happy to see you too, but now isn't the time for a happy reunion, the town, maybe even the whole city is about to go up in flames." He turns the key to lower the bridge. "We have to get out of here."

Shaking his head, Light keeps his hold on the man, shrinking to the floor. "You don't have to worry about anything anymore."

"What are you talking about?" His voice is growing nervous hearing how close the landing sites are getting to where he is. "Didn't you see what was going on, something is causing explosions and-..."

"Ssshhh." He strokes the back of the man's head. "Listen to me... do you remember when the two of us were together?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember having these weird moments where you would feel like you needed to be somewhere else?"

Mikami thought it over, though, it was hard to concentrate with all the chaos blowing up around them. "I think so."

"The reason you were so restless, the reason that you had to come back here is because you're..." He sighs in frustration. There has to be an easier way to go about telling someone that they're dead. "Mikami... I can't find a lesser way to say this other than to just tell you but..."

Near watches the tower on pins and needles. 'Come on, Light. I told you not to hesitate.'

Eyes wide in disbelief, the lawyer shakes his head. "I'm... I'm dead... but how? I feel fine... I..." He trails off in thoughtful disbelief.

Light nods slowly. "You died here, years ago, before you and I met... you died while trying to save all these people."

"But how is that possible? None of this has happened before- you're insane!"

"I wish there was a better explanation to how it all works but... you're duty to this place, this recycled hell, is over." He can hear Near calling to him. "Mikami... I don't know how you managed to be with me but we were together and those were some of the best days of my life. It isn't any easier for me to say goodbye to you then it is for you to understand that you're gone." He looks at the man as if to memorize his face. "Please believe me." He touches the man's cheek gently.

"But I don't wanna die." Mikami begins to tear up; his chest puffing in and out rapidly from dry sobs. "I don't wanna die!" He shouts in hysterics.

Wrapping his arms around the man, he pulls him into his chest. "It won't hurt, I promise." Though he has no guaruntee of that statement he has to believe it.

"Come with me- come with me! We can go together!" He tries to move from Light's grasp but he remains pinned.

"I can't go with you, but I can take you with me, Mikami... I can remember you."

He can feel the man nodding into his chest, muffled sniffles sound now and then.

"Light, let's go!" Shouts Near.

"Please remember me."

"I will. Always." Light nods.

Mikami swallows hard when his body starts to feel lighter; he can see a bright Light surrounding him. Light can too, though his is more orange then white.

"Light!" Near practically screamed.

...

Three months later...

A young woman walks into a large white building; her eyes skim over the windows wondering which one her brother lives in exactly before pulling open a large wooden double door with a small window pane in it. Walking over to the front desk; the carnations in her hand crumple against the desk when she leans forward to get the receptionists attention. She knew she wasn't allowed to bring anything but she just couldn't stop herself from bringing gifts by whenever she came to visit.

The woman cocked a brow at her then smiled. "You're here to see, Mr. Yagami, correct?"

Nodding, she looks down at the flowers in her hands, the plastic around them rumpling when her grip tightens. "Here. I know I'm not supposed to bring anything." She sets them down on the counter top. "Can I go in?"

"Yes, but... he isn't having one of his better days, so be cautious."

"This is my brother you're talking about." Sayu assures the woman as she starts for the thick metal door around the side of the counter. "I don't have to be cautious." She disappeared behind the door when a loud siren went off to open it.

The young woman shivered once the door slammed shut after her. This part of the building always freaked her out, not because of Light, but because of everyone else. Men and woman, teenagers- even some children, all of them behind closed doors stuck in a paranoid, frightened, invisible world that only they can see. It was weird, when Light came back from his vacation, he seemed... different somehow. His eye twitched occassionally for no reason, his personality was nearly reverse to what it normally was. When Sayu visited her brother's apartment she thought that it was jet lag or something. Plus, it seemed as if he were talking to himself a lot. That was the thing she'd noticed the most whenever she came over, he would either be ending a conversation with someone or just starting one up and he would never clearly explain why. But then, Light... he sort of became very skittish, even his posture had changed somewhat; her brother's prestine perfect outlook was almost... broken. Sayu had asked him one day what was wrong but Light said that it was nothing. Sayu told their parents about it and when the day of their family dinner came Light was his usual self, although, when alone in his bedroom, he was talking to himself again.

The next time they had dinner it was a different story. Light looked frightened, he was always casting looks over his shoulder to the front door. His speech pattern had changed drastically and he sounded like he was stuck on bored annoyance. When he spent the night he woke up screaming that someone was in the room with him, someone named Beatrice or Begone something like that, it was hard to dechiper the yells they were so out of character and frightning. The best they could guess is that because Mikami was not with Light, the two had a falling out and he was just not handling it well.

Light was normal again the next month, he seemed in a better mood everytime the girl saw him. She teased him about having regular sex only to have the male laugh it off and say that hearing something like that from his sister was beyond disturbing and she shouldn't say it. But Sayu only laughed and continued teasing the male- that is, until she heard some strange laugh out of nowhere. A door closed shortly after that making her very uncomfortable all of a sudden, like she and her brother weren't alone in the apartment but she knew that was crazy, ghost don't exist. She hoped anyway. But the last week of August they had lost him and he seemed to stay lost. Her brother was practically foaming at the mouth trying to wriggle away from some invisible thing that had him pinned on his stomach to his bed; she had come over to watch a movie at his place sort of like a sleep over and she found him in his bedroom a mental mess.

"Light." She walks into the room he's been placed in at a mental institute. "Its me, Sayu. I came to see you again."

"Sa- Sayu?" Light mutters.

The last time she visited he was screaming about wanting someone, anyone, to see him it was so weird for him to say that all the while trying to coil in on himself to not be seen. Then another time was different, he was trying to tear his skin off claiming that he was burning up, right before he would collapse to the floor like he'd been crushed by something. Each visit became more heart breaking than the last. Light seems fine right now, though.

"How do you feel?" She frowns at the straight jacket knowing, though, that its necessary.

"Tired." He sways in the corner where he's sitting. "Alone. Lost, but, then again that's nothing new so I'm not too worried about it."

Again, with the bored tone. What happened to her brother when he went away. Sayu was sure that if she ever saw Mikami again she would knock him out cold for leaving her brother in this state. Doesn't he know that Light loved him?

Light's eyes widen suddenly, he then starts to shake his head. "No... no stay back! Don't!"

Light falls forward onto his stomach, hips raising into the air with his knees at a slight bend.

"Guard! Guard!" Sayu stands and runs to get help.

"I love you brother." Light hears from B, who's leaned over his back. Turning his head away from the kisses to his cheek he screams when he feels his pants coming down. "B, don't!"

But he allows it to happen, the rape; Light won't tell B to leave him alone. He can't tell the one person who sees him to go away... In the end, Light went back for L as he said he would and the man agreed to come home with him to Kanto. They had sweet days together and warm nights, a good life. Light could take all of L's pains and joy, only problem was he just had a hard time keeping himself at the surface of it all.


	10. Ending Four: Light

B elovates his brother's leg into the air, a hard grip on the older male's thigh to do so, and with all his strength shoves himself deeper into L's body. Pounding into him over and over the coughed and sputtered grunts of L fill his ears calming the pain in his head. He blinks down at his brother, a busted smile spreads across his face and he leans over a bit to place kisses onto the pale cheek that's exposed to him. He can hear his brother whisper something to him along the lines of "don't" but then L could have said anything right now and he wouldn't really understand it. He's not much farther from release when he hears something rattling in the closet. Turning his head he stalks over without a second thought to see what had caused the out of place sound. Grabbing the knob he hears a yelp, instead of flinging the door open, he milks a bit more fear from the hidden mouse that chose the wrong time to let out a yelp. His red eye gazes through the crack setting its sight upon a man, he's seen this man before wandering the building one day. He left him alone, sure that he would be too frightened to run off anywhere, he would definitely be back for him just like all the other stray dogs that end up in his part of town. It was like a sign, a devine sign sent from the heavens that told him what night was perfect to take the world as his meal. Booms were heard in the distance like some hard drum of a heartbeat that night and the booms whispered just as the voice whispered, and the world sang to him as he ravaged the outskirts of Silent Hill clean; or rather, as he intended to. He can't be sure what happened after he went to see his brother... One minute they were talking about something, L laughed at some nonsense that came out of his mouth and the next thing he knew he was fucking his brother. L seemed to like it, he didn't tell him to leave, if he had he hadn't heard him. Dineas Elliot was slowly losing his hearing as the pains in his head grew throughout the years, he jisted and smiled at whatever unheard was said to him. It wasn't as if anyone actually ever spoke to him or his brother anyway- well, they did speak but it was always some curse or rude thing so he just shut them out. The only voice he heard or cared about was Lawliet's.

Which is why when he caught himself decapitating his only loved one, he freaked out and ran away to hide somewhere; the urge to kill was still so strong, though, but after he ran out he has no clue what happened or when his hearing started to return; everyday is a fog of nothing, except for these few fleeting moments of clarity and sanity between the two of them and now some stranger has decided to ruin it. He will pay, dearly. "I see youuuuu." The freaked out little mouse breathed out in a frightened staggered breath but what happened next B was not expecting. The tip of a fingernail came straight pass his eyelids not pausing for a second; there's a low sucking sound, before the finger successfully moves above the eye and behind it. Beyond grunted in start as his vision blurred before losing sight of the left side of the room all together.

Light turned his head as quickly as he could to avoid being hit with the blood that spurts out from the vein snapping to empty the socket, but is a bit too slow getting some in his mouth and the corner of his eye; he blinks away the pain of the foreign liquid there, bursting from the closet, the door bashes into B knocking him down. He's making pained, almost frightened laughs of disbelief that his eye has been removed, and he wriggles and writhes on the floor trying to regain some composure over the immense pain. Light's first intention was to leave and never look back but his legs take him over to the bed where L lay either dead or unconscious, whichever it may be, he's not going to leave him alone with this sicko. Lifting him, he throws him over his shoulder carrying the nude body from the bedroom into the main room of the apartment.

"L, stop it, its me!" He says when the man's limbs begin to flail; his knee almost giving Light a good jab in the ribs but he places a hand on L's thigh to stop it.

Hearing his voice seemed to calm him down as the movement stopped, making him easier to run with. B's sword caught Light's attention; the cool metal shines in the dim moonlight as if asking to be taken and thoughts of doing just that play through his brain as he passes by. He'd have to find another way to do it because if he's gonna get out of here before the siren sounds and the barriers come down locking him in the room with this man, he can't waste time by carrying a possible corpse and a very heavy looking object; besides, he only has ten minutes to get out of the place, into his car, and to the boathouse. He would have slammed the door closed behind him but B had broken it in when he entered. Grabbing the knob to Mikami's apartment he pushes the door open a good crack in hopes to get the mad man's attention and send him in the wrong direction as they make their escape. He then looks up the hall then down wondering if he should take the stairwell or the elevator. The thing just had to be running. Going over to the glowing button, he taps it rapidly waiting for the the doors to open. Even in the distance you can hear a door slam into a wall hard enough to take the wall out rather than simply leave a hole in it, but judging by the thickness to it, it was the bedroom door.

Light was relieved when the doors open with a 'ding' allowing them entrance. He pressed the button for the lobby and when the doors close he lowers L, so that he's holding the man to his chest before he melts to the floor, himself, in a shuddering heap. Feeling something hard and moist in his hand Light flicks the eyeball from his grasp, not even realizing that he had been holding it all this time. A loud growl came from the floor they had just left; it sounds grumbled and hoarse not at all like the voice that spoke to him from in the closet. Is he Pyramid Head again? Why did the tumor leave in the first place, and how? Was it L? Light looks down at the slumped forward heap in his arms. The elevator let them out at the lobby and with a bit of an adjustment from before, Light piggybacks L toward the exit. He ran quickly across the street to where he had parked in front of Mello's or Matt's apartment. Opening the door, he turns his back to the opening laying the man in the backseat of the car, then climbs behind the wheel locking all doors with the automatic lock on the door panel.

"Don't worry, L, we're getting out of here." The car starts up the street at top speed. Turning on the radio, he hears the crackling from before, its very faint but there all the same.

Even at high speed Light couldn't seem to beat the curfew as the loud siren pierced the sky and one by one the appendageless bodies start to pepper the road all around him, shining in the head lights of the car. He had to turn down the radio as the crackling noise became almost a hard whistle and it was starting to give him a headache. At least Light didn't have the same fears as before- not behind the wheel anyway- and with ease, plowed right over the demons; one managed to roll up the car putting a crack in the windshield with its elbow, but it wasn't enough to stop him from pressing on. In the rearview mirror he can see it wriggling its limbs arching its aching back from the street. The boathouse is just a corner away and the last minute up the street seemed like hours before the car screeched to a hault in front of the building. He didn't bother with closing the door once he exits the front seat, just opened the back and pulled L out. The door was closed but not locked, entering, he sets the man to lay down across a backless bench before rushing to the door, locking it. Seeing that the counter was not attached to anything he presses his back against the side of it, digs his heals in then shoves the counter infront of the door to barracade them in. Light walks over to the bench sitting himself on the floor, leaning his back against the wooden seat.

'What the hell is going on now?' He wonders while trying to calm his heart. 'When did I leave the other apartment?' He looks over at a boat radio that crackles to life, Matt's voice comes over it with the safety announcements. He ignores it, while taking comfort in the fact that someone is out there. 'Am I in the other world? Or am I back in reality?' Removing his cellphone from his pocket, he flips it open then speed dials Near. He has to ask him what he did wrong because he saw Mikami but got nothing out of it. He was so thankful the kid had the foresight to add his number into it when he'd gone to the bathroom at his house. Waiting out the rings, he wonders if its a bad time to call. Did it matter? Look at the situation he's in.

"Hello?"

"Near, I-.."

"Light?"

That voice doesn't sound at all like the dead drawl of the young man, it sounds more like...

"Mikami."

"Hey..." His voice is low, it sounds almost as if he's half asleep. "How did you get this number?"

Light can feel tears welling in his eyes hearing the man's voice, hearing it and knowing that its actually speaking to him. "..." He tried to speak but his voice remained in his throat.

"I miss you, you know." Mikami goes on talking as if he's speaking to himself, like rehersing what he would say to Light had he actually been on the phone. "I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

"It would have..." He heard his voice whisper. Light was almost afraid that if he spoke too much whatever connection this conversation was happening on would disconnect and he would never talk to Mikami again.

"I miss you, you know. I often wonder if it would have been right to call you after the way I'd left."

Light shakes his head. He doesn't want this weird moment to go on, he wants Mikami to continue speaking to him as he had. "Mikami?"

"I'm sorry, I'm repeating myself." He seems to smile on his end. "How are you?"

"I'm..." He trails off, unsure of how to answer the question.

"I know what you mean, I'm just an 'I'm' too."

There's a brief silence between them, but Light urges the man back. "Please keep talking."

Light knew all the things he should be saying to the man but none of them would come out. He can't break up with Mikami, not over the phone, and he can't end it knowing that he'll send the man off to his next life on that bad note of a break up. God, how can he tell the man he loves that he's dead?

"I put a real headcase behind bars, did you hear about it? It must have been on the news or in the papers back then?"

"I heard." He lied. He knew nothing about that condeming trial up until arriving here.

"Where are you? Do you still live in Kanto?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to go back there someday."

"You should. You should come back with me."

Its quiet a moment. "Where are you right now?"

"Why do you keep asking that?"

A few huffs of laughter come over the phone before the line dies.

Shaken, he's glad he didn't blurt out his location. Who was that? Lowering the phone to the floor, he turns his head to check on L. He's still out cold. Reaching for his neck with index and middle finger he checks the man's vitals, a steady pulse greets his finger tips; relieved, Light stands up going over to the window to look out. The car is in tact; the road it seems is littered with those things only none of them are moving, they're just standing still like twisted freakish trees in concrete. Remembering the last time he was at the boathouse, Light walks to the back door to check if it were secure. If anything is living in the lake, let it stay there.

An hour passed, then a half. Restless, Light walks around the room checking this and looking at that; he removed his shirt tying it around L's bare lap like an apron, he was sure the man would want to keep some dignity between them- if he ever woke up. He found a notepad and pen in the drawer of the counter he'd shoved against the door, fingering them a moment, he takes them out walking them over to the bench. Having a seat on the floor, he places the pad against his bent knees; the journalist had intended to maybe doodle a little bit but instead he found himself writing, one page became two, two became four; Light scribbled things out and tore off sheets, only to write them over with different wording. Its very dark and dank in the building, but there's enough light for the man to see that he isn't running over his words and as for the dank smell, he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding his breath until now. He wrote for hours, not even realizing that the siren had stopped and morning was approaching. His eyelids grew heavy, the eyes themselves dry and strained from writing in the dark but around three he had finished what he was doing, dropping the pad to the floor letting it fall from his aching hands.

A low moan came from the man on the bench; Light turns on his side, expression curious. "L?" He catches his breath seeing the man's hand go up to his forehead to remove his dark bangs from out of his face. Looking down, he sees that L's feet are back in place as well, the blood on his neck remains, drying, but there is no slice there. Its almost as if nothing had ever happened to him at all. Was he in the other world before? If so, when had he gone to sleep? He really should set the alarm on his watch incase these weird sleep walking habits don't stop. In a town like this, its too dangerous.

"Light?"

"Are you ok?" Asks the male, grabbing a hold of the man's hand.

Noticing his surroundings he replies. "I'm fine, but, where are we?"

"The boathouse on Nathan." He scoots himself up to sit on the bench, placing a hand to L's back as the man sits upright.

L made a thoughtful sound before asking. "And what are we doing here?"

'If I tell him the truth, who knows what will come out of it. L may disappear forever.' Hearing what he'd just thought over, he thinks again. 'Isn't that the goal, though, to free him from his suffering- to free all of Silent Hill?' But when he looks at L, that bit of confusion on his handsome face, he can't bring himself to lose him just yet. This is his last day in this town before the reset, he should spend it contacting Near and figuring out how to get to Mikami, as for L...

"You don't remember what happened back at the apartment?"

L's thumb came up to his lips, eyes roll up to the ceiling as he thinks for a moment about the question. "I remember helping you out of the hall window... getting you to have dinner with me..." The next thought made the man smile. "We had sex... after that, I don't remember a thing. Why, what's happened?" He gasps.

Light grabbed the man's face in his hands, pressing their lips together, he kisses L in complete relief that the man is both alright and doesn't remember the horrible thing that his brother had done to him. The advertisor made an appreciative hum during the kiss, speaking when Light's lips move to his throat.

"Am I drunk?" He asked out of thinking it was weird that he didn't recall anything past having sex. That, or Light was just that good.

Light only laughed into the man's mouth, pressing forward so that L lays back on the bench. Moving on top of him, one leg set between the other mans, he let his relief guide his hips to grind into L's groin, groaning slightly when L responded by grinding back. Seeing that his only coverage was a flimsy shirt, his arousal pressed eagerly onto Light's hip, and he shudders like a small earthquake is happening inside of him when a tickling hand smooths its way up L's thigh, the thumb brushing gently against his member. The journalist lifts his hips a bit to set his hand to a better position, so he can latch onto the hot girth and give it some good strong strokes up and down. If the kiss weren't so dizzying L was sure his moan would have been audible from the burning feeling rushing through him from the direct attention to his sex.

L's hands scrape along Light's lower back, dipping just below the waistband of the man's pants. Moving one hand to the front of the jeans, he unfastens them to gain better access inside. Light groaned loudly into L's neck, muttering something in Japanese into the other man's mouth due to L's finger brushing a light trail between his cheeks, and his entrance receiving a little extra strength from the ghosting touch caused his back to arch and hips to rock back into the pressure but it was gone too soon. L is lifted onto Light's lap after the quickest adjustment to his pants is made so that his member is shortly exposed to the world before its steered right into the man's thin body. It amazed Light still that L had muscle mass of any kind considering how the man's frame looks when he's dressed, but underneath is an impressive package. One arm secured around Light's shoulders, the other scooped around the man's lower back, nails dug in deep; L wastes no time bobbing his hips up and down seeking deeper pleasure and getting what he desired and his body jerked suddenly when the surge of rolling fire rushed up his spine again and again at his will.

Light was reduced to a breathless mess; his erection getting the sweetest treatment from L's contracting walls. Loose to tight, loose to tight; it was getting hard to breathe in the dank smelling air that is pleasently being replaced with a rich musky scent of L's leaking head, none-the-less, his panting becomes more shallow and his mouth leaves the kiss in hopes of some air. But L's legs grappling him, closing him within them sent him over the edge taking the man with him as warmth radiated through his body. Their panting hard and heavy they catch their breaths, no words being said in the meantime.

"L, will you come with me?" Asks Light, hand moving through the man's dark hair as if he's trying to comb it with his fingers.

"I don't think I have a choice in the matter." He looks down at the shirt still tied around his waist.

Smiling, Light kisses him on the lips as an apology before freeing himself from the man's hold. "Here, you can take my shorts." He removes his jeans and boxers handing them over to L to wear with his shirt.

The advertisor begins arranging the clothes on his body watching Light, who's moving about the room. "Where are we going?"

"To the police station."

"Why?"

"Its safer there, and you can get some clothes."

"Why not just go back to the apartment?"

"Its not safe. I'd rather you sit with a friend of mine."

Finding that strange, L nods. "Light... I'm sorry about not telling you."

Turning his head at the memory those words held, he waits for the rest hoping that L won't start falling apart again. "About what?"

The man stands walking over to the window next to Light to look out into the empty street. "When I was younger, my brother used to" He thought for a better word and came up with. "be intimate with me."

Light's eye twitched hearing L's choice of wording. It wasn't like that at all. "It doesn't matter." He lied. "You're fine, aren't you?"

"More or less." L nods, glad that Light had taken it so well. Most people who knew have thrown stones. "I thought that I should tell you incase you were wondering about some things." He meant the lack of resistance.

"No. Its personal, private, you didn't have to tell me if you didn't want to." It wasn't as if L were waving it as a flag of some sort, he actually sounded pained by the admittance. "Remember when you asked me before, about how I felt about you?"

L nods recalling the sting of not getting an answer.

"Honestly, I think that I'm starting to fall for you; which is why I have to keep you safe."

"From what?"

Ignoring the question he starts to push the counter, getting help from L without asking or gesturing. "There's no time to explain, I just need to do something today then I'll be back on Monday. I promise."

"Alright."

The door is pulled open, all creatures have retreated with the night. He climbs into the front seat, L joins him in the car in the passangers side. As Light drove he kept glancing at L almost to make sure that he was still there. L kept quiet the entire trip into Central, his gaze out the window. Light wonders what he's thinking about while at the same time wonders what he himself is thinking by promising to return after the reset. Didn't he make a promise to himself that he would never return to Silent Hill for as long as he lived. Mello may enjoy the dangers of almost getting stuck here, but Light can't end up like Near. He just can't.

...

The car pulls up at the Central police station around 6:38 a.m. Light reaches across to the glove compartment popping it open to remove one of the two guns hidden within it. A glance at L he caught the male cocking a brow at the weapon.

"For protection." He explained.

"You've gotten paranoid staying here. You do know that."

"I'm not paranoid, you're just blind." He said remembering what Matt had told him about seeing nothing when he was being attacked that first day. "I'll be back, keep the doors locked."

L gave him a skeptical look before he closed the door. He hadn't been five steps passed the car when the passangers door opened. L stepped out giving himself a stretch. Light didn't look the least bit surprised by L's actions but heard himself saying.

"Didn't I say to stay in the car?"

"I know judo; do you think I'm an innocent who can't defend himself?"

Shoulders slumped, he pictures L trying to fend off monsters with fists and flying kicks. Sighing, he turns back to the car opening the passanger door to grab the other gun. "Here. Do you know how to use it?"

L has the handle of the gun pinched between his fingers giving it a quick study. "It doesn't seem too hard, just aim and pull the trigger." He aims and pretends to pull the trigger. "Pow."

Snickering Light shakes his head. If it weren't so damned cute, he'd take the gun back. The last thing he needs is to get shot from a miss-fire. Cautiously, he starts for the station. Beyond the slightly tinted windows he sees eratic movement but its at least from a single person. Looking around he checks the sky for the ashy snow, a ring catches his attention bringing it forward to where L just strolled into the police station. Defeated in his need for caution he calmly walks into the police station.

"Hey Light." Matt waves a hand. "What are you doing here so early?" After scratching his brownish red hair he corrects himself. "Scratch that, what are you doing here at all actually."

Light could sock the man after yesterday, but no, Mello should be his real target as Matt was so far gone he doubted he knew he was even in the room with them. "Matt, I need a favor from you."

"Okay, what?"

"I need you to watch L for me." He nods over to where said man is looking at Wanted posters.

"Excuse me?" He didn't so much turn himself around but his head crooked back to look over his shoulder. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I didn't say that. All I want is for you to stay put while I take care of some things today."

"And how long is it that I'm supposed to "stay put"?"

Light can hear the air quotes around his words, watching as L comes over to them. "I don't know, hopefully not long." He can't meet L's dark gaze, choosing to look at Matt instead. "Do you know where Mello is right now?"

"Probably Cafe Mist."

"I know where that is." He recalls it from when L took him for breakfast the morning he'd almost drowned.

"Will you answer me this time? Why do I need to stay here?"

"Because, I don't want you to be alone!" He hadn't meant to shout but he hates when people don't listen. Patience was never his strong suite in the longer run of things he could brush off, especially when it was for something important like this. Calming his tone, though, L hardly seemed fazed by it he says. "I just have to do something, one little thing and I'll be back. I want you to stay here because Matt will keep you company and he's a good guy."

"Its true. I am good company." He nods, beaming from the compliment.

L looks from Light to Matt then moves away from them to continue looking about the station.

"What's this all about? You give up on Mikami, or something?" He looks over Light's shoulder. "He is good looking, though, you sure like guys with black hair don't you. Is that your type or something?"

Light grips Matt's shoulder to get him to focus on something useful. "Here. If I don't come back Monday, please give this to L- no time before." He whispers shoving a piece of folded up paper into the gamer's hand.

"O..kay." He stuffs it into his pocket. "But what are you gonna do in the meantime?"

"I can't tell you, its sort of an unsaid promise because of Mello. But, trust me, its important."

Nodding, he watches L moving about the room. "Listen, we're sorry for yesterday. We sort of thought that you were having a good time or something and Mello wanted to say goodbye to me and we went into the bedroom and by the time we were done, you were gone."

He was pissed at them for not watching his nearly conscious body; from what L told him he could have fallen to his death from the 3 story drop after jumping to the next building, but he could understand their reason as he did a little of that of his own an hour ago. Mello must be a wreck, being in love with someone who isn't a someone anymore and lives in such a dangerous place. One slip-up and its over for you, but in the end you can stay by their side rather than having to go back and forth. Shaking away those sorts of thoughts, he remembers his family back home in Kanto then heads for the door.

"You should wait around here, Mello is going to work today so he'll probably come by. I'd hurry if I were you, though, Mello never sticks around long on a Sunday." He snickers. "Can you believe he buys into the whole tourist attraction of" He wriggles his fingers menacingly. "The Anniversary drawing neeear." He laughs a little more this time. "Light, please don't tell me that you let Mello's paranoia get to you?" He asks looking down at the gun clutched in the journalist's hand.

"He has." L chimes in from the next room.

"I'm not paranoid. I have to go." He walks over to L who's exiting the room. Giving him the briefest kiss, he then turns his attention back to Matt. "Can you find something for him to put on?"

The gamer nods. "Uumm, wouldn't you like a shirt or something too?" He points to the man's bare chest.

Light had forgotten all about that; what a sight he and L must be together. Walking back into the room he waits a moment for Matt to return. Taking the offered black shirt with a S.H.P.D crest on it. L removed the sullied shirt Light had given him, slipping into a pair of sweat pants and the other police shirt Matt brought out. Thanking the gamer Light hurries to the door, side stepping a cop that's coming in. Glad to see that the city is waking up, he climbs into his car wondering where the garbage truck might come in from so that he can flag the blond down. Looking back toward the station he isn't surprised to see a little glowing square get passed off to L from Matt showing off his handheld. That should keep him from wandering too much. He never understood some videogames, though, in his younger years he did own quite a few but those were mostly sports games never anything long. After an hour and fiftteen mintutes of waiting he spots the truck heading toward the bridge. Starting the car he follows closely after him, hoping the man has at least a little White Claudia on him if he has enough balls to smoke the stuff normally. How can he take going to that other world, does it give him some sick kind of rush? Maybe he's just trigger happy and likes the challange. Or maybe a part of him wants to end Matt's suffering but he chickens out each time.

It wasn't until they hit Bachman that Mello pulled the truck to a stop. Looking out the window he seemed to roll his eyes before exiting the car; blue jump suit looking like loose skin on his thin frame. "What is it now? I helped you out, so get lost."

"Be lucky I don't put a bullet in your head!" Light snaps exiting his car as well. "Do you realize that I jumped out of a window to the next building? If L hadn't seen me I could have fallen to my death."

"How is it my fault that you started moving? I tied you down."

"No, you tied me up. And seeing how that turned out, I'm lucky you didn't tie me down because I could have died right there when the ceiling came down into the burning room I woke up in."

Mello's teal eyes widen in shock. "You... saw the fire? Where's Matt?" His tone is concerned and worried that Light had done something stupid. He knows Matt grew up in this town, he was only supposed to be looking for Mikami.

"At the station in Central, he's with L."

The tension leaves him. "So then what do you want? Didn't you find Mikami?"

"I did, but I couldn't talk to him. I came back here to speak with Near and see if he can tell me what I did wrong." He looks down the road to where Levin street is. "Do you have any White Claudia on you?"

"Yeah." He looks light over suspiciously. "Why do you need it?"

"I need to go back." He starts for his car. "This time I will free Mikami of this place, but I need your help getting to the otherside again."

Mello stared after Light's retreating back, then with a roll of his eyes he says a hefty. "Fine. But this is the last time." Walking back to his truck he waits for Light to lead the way to Near's place and follows.

...

"Mistake number one was getting tied up. Mello was it? You could have gotten Light killed by that stupid mistake, but then you didn't really know so it really isn't your fault." He takes a seat on the couch, hand reaching to start up a fire engine that's on the coffee table.

"Who are you calling stupid?" Barks the blond watching the child play with his toy as if he's the only one in the room.

"The mistake." Says Near. "Do you consider yourself a mistake, Mello?" He asks calmly.

Light couldn't help but hide a snicker at the comment. From anyone else it would have come off as an insult, but from Near it just sounded as if he were talking to no one in particular.

Mello grit his teeth, fist balled.

"Did you manage to talk to Mikami?" Near focuses now on Light, seeing as how he'd won round one.

"No. I did see him, though, the place where he died- its in the tower at the bridge."

"Hmm." He intones thoughtfully.

"So, what was the problem."

Near is quiet a moment, then replies. "It seems that Mikami is bound in two places. Here and where you sent him after he'd missed the reset in those three months he was with you in Kanto."

'So he was the one that started the rift between here and there.' Thinks Mello glaring at Light for making his life a living hell with the world growing darker and darker. The time within here and there shortening with each snow fall. Pretty soon the whole damn place will be nothing but a moving cemetery- well, of the worst kind. Seeing them as people will no longer be possible, there will be nothing but chared human's walking the earth, or those creepy headless things in the outskirts. He never understood what went on there and he didn't want to know. Having to clean up dead bodies that appear in trash cans after this Near person frees the soul from this place was enough to keep him busy for months and years. He had always wondered how it were possible for these bodies to show up. Now he knows, but honestly he never expected this kid. He'd seen flyers before about how the people should speak with him, but he just figured the flyers were some sort of reflection of the kids innerself- people wanna look good right? Mello had to mentally slap himself for complimenting the kids looks, his gaze snapping away when he caught Near watching him.

Smirking, the albino child then turns his attention back to Light. "We'll have to recover where his soul drifted to in order to get him back on the right course, once we do that you can speak freely to him, I don't need to tell you about the urgency in the matter. Only say what needs to be said, don't expand your time with him longer than it needs to be."

"I won't." He said, though, inside he felt unsure. He didn't know who the hell he was on the phone with but it left his insides stirring.

Digging into the pocket of his jumpsuit, Mello holds out a white stick to the child. "Here. Its the only one I have so you'd better do this right."

"Thanks. But I won't be needing that. I can get there on my own, and I'll be taking Mr. Yagami with me."

Cocking a brow, Light parts his lips to speak but it seemed that Near was already ahead of him in thought.

"The reason I sent you to them is so that you could take care of the matter on your own; as I told you when we'd spoken before you and I share a gift for seeing spirits, only difference is that we can communicate with them whereas others can't. You, Light Yagami, are a novice and can't manipulate the worlds as I can so I have to help you. The reason I didn't do so in the first place is because I've never tried it with another person before and it may not have worked."

"Its fine and I'm ready to go whenever you can take us there."

Listening quietly, Mello takes that as his insentive to go. "If that's settled then I'm-..."

"No." Near says tightly. "You have to stay here. Mr. Watari, my aid, is gone for the day and I need you to watch our bodies while we're on the otherside. If we look too banged up, you'll have to wake us up manually if I can't find a way to pull out."

The two sit in a dead locked gaze. It was Mello to break contact first, walking over to an arm chair he lounges in it as if it were his own; one leg draped over the arm of the chair, the other leg to the floor, leaving him to look shamelessly splayed out for sex or something close to it. "Just see that he does it this time. Yagami seems as bright as a wet sheet of paper."

"To give paper any intellengence at all leaves your own questionable." Standing from his seat, he stands before Light.

The journalist caught his breath when the child's hands come up to his temples.

"Put your arms around me."

Doing as he's told he wonders out loud. "Will this help?" He felt weird holding onto an eighteen year old that looks like a fourteen year old.

"No. But I don't wanna hit the floor when we cross over." His dark grey eyes close and he breathes in deeply taking in Light's scent of sex, and natural body odor. When his senses and mind are swimming, he can feel his spirit pushing forward from his body.

Mello watches, mouth parted in shock seeing a white mist leave the childs form going into Light's body. How can this be real? If he didn't see half the things he's seen being here, he never would have allowed himself to believe this. When Near's body slammed into Light's both men remain clutched in each others arms, slumped on the couch. It looked like an uncomfortable angle and he wondered about moving them. He needed only to lift Light's leg to lay across the couch anyway and got up to do so, with a grunt he moves the man's legs to rest along the length of the couch, the young boy's body moved right along with the action. He looked like a father sleeping with his child in his arms. He takes his place back on the armchair, candy bar pulled from his pocket to be eaten as he waits. He only hoped this little trip didn't take long.

** ** **

Light's eyes scrunch before opening. Looking around a room colored in the moon's blue he sees that he's in the apartment and alone. Sitting up of his own will he lets out a relieved breath but when he tries to stand the room spins dropping him back onto the bed, a hand holding the side of his head.

"Light, where are you?"

Near sounded weird when his voice is semi-shouting. It sounds as if he's in L's apartment. "Near, I'm in here- across the hall." He calls back.

Foot steps are heard in the main room of the apartment before the bedroom door opens. The male seemed happy to see him as he walks over to the bed.

"I feel like my mind is swimming in paste."

"It passes. Until then, stay close to me," He takes Light's hand. "I can't have you leaving before we get anywhere with this." He starts for the door.

Curious, Light asks. "Near, are you in L's spirit?"

"I'm in no one's spirit, neither are you- that's how the gift works." He looks around in the main room, his dark gaze casting over to this shadow and that as if looking for something. "I think the only reason I ended up at this 'L' person's place is because I smelled him on you before bringing us here."

Light looked hot with guilt but Near let out an annoyed sigh. "I'm not judging you, Light, feelings are fickle, do whatever you want with them. My only concern is the issue at hand."

They start for the exit to the hall; hands still clasped.

"You've encountered Pyramid Head more than me, have you found any weaknesses to help us get rid of him?"

Light thinks for a moment. "It isn't exactly easy to look for weaknesses on a person who's trying to kill you." He then adds. "I did manage to pull one of his eyes out, though."

"Then bullets will work on him. Where's the gun you were carrying when we came here?"

"Still in the bedroom." He figures when he feels that his free hand isn't holding it. "I'll get it, my headache seems to be leaving, anyhow." Releasing the boy's hand he starts across the room.

He heard a strange sort of groan or creak before having to fall back onto his butt from the large sword coming up through the floor in front of him. Quickly, Light scoots away before the thing came slamming down over his head to split him down the middle and it instead sliced through the floor. Near watched, bewildered at the scene, as the sword came up again and again anywhere Light seemed to move. Pyramid Head must be in the apartment below them!

"Light sit still, he can hear where you're moving to!" He calls to the man who's trying his hardest to escape the deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

"Easier said than done!" He slams his back against the wall, finally managing to stand up.

The sword came up one last time before the onslaught stilled. A weird sound like snorting caught their ears then. The sword came up three times in random places, once before Near, who turned his head shuddering in elated fear that the man retracted the sword rather than taking a slice with it. The clogged sniffing sounds again then quiets completely.

"Is he gone?" Near asks; breathing a little heavier then he would have liked for it to be.

"I doubt it. He may be looking for the apartment we're in. Near-.." He calls after the boy when he darts across the room towards the kitchen. "What are you doing?" He asks when he hears a drawer sliding open on its track.

"You can't be the only one with a weapon; its up to both of us to kill him."

"No, you should stay hidden somewhere. You're better at this than I am, you can still save Mikami for me."

"I didn't come here to stop existing, Light, I came to help you free another victim of this place. What makes you think that if you were to die that I could handle this on my own?" He walks out of the kitchen holding the largest knife he could find in the drawer. "We're in this together."

Their heads whip towards the door.

"That's him. Hide in the closet."

"I already said that-.."

"I'm not telling you to stay out of it, I just think it would be easier for you to sneak up on him then to directly assalt him." He mentions while nodding at the gun in his hand. "Now hurry!"

Skeptical, Near crosses the room, hiding in the coat closet; the door remains cracked so that he can watch for an opportunity to strike. He's never been one to submit to many emotions so he wasn't about to start now. He can't let himself be afraid; the unpredictability of where fires will start, or flaming projectiles will land was a high enough risk, but most of those were residual and easy to avoid after he's been enough times. B is an intellegent haunting doing as he wishes with whatever or whomever comes his way. But that's no excuse, fear will only make him slow and careless. He and Light can do this. Readjusting his grip on the knife, he quiets his breathing.

The door slamming in caused both men to jump our of their skin from start. Light points the gun at the door waiting for the man to come in; B is slow with that sword in his hand, getting a good shot in should be no problem. But his plans take an unexpected turn as he falls hard onto his side to avoid the large weapon that came whizzing into the room like an arrow; it stabbed into the wall going two feet through before it held there. As B trudged into the room, a battle howl shrieked from his lump covered mouth. Light planned to open fire right then but another unexpected turn came as Mikami emerged from his bedroom; an ax in hand, he swings it through the air right into the madman's neck. Light recalls the dream he had when he'd first stayed in the apartment; Mikami did exactly the same thing he had then. Did he come across the man and attempt to kill him as well? What happened that he didn't? Mikami vanished in a clap of smoke, as if he were nothing more than a mirage. Recovering from his muddled state, Light aims the gun from where he is on the floor. The shot fired off, the bullet landing in B's chest causing him to stagger back a step but he pressed forward towards him.

Taking three more shots, Light gets up from the floor when Pyramid Head drops to his bleeding knee. It didn't detain him for long, though. His hand grips the handle of his sword and in one swift jerk he pulls it from the wall. Near watches for a chance, presuming that when B goes to work his large weapon he can strike then, but B whipped the thing gracefully, it looked no heavier than if he were to swing his own arm through the air. But the damage its doing is definitely not that of a hand slapping about and everything touched is being easily crushed or sliced in two. He's practically bringing down the entire apartment! All Light can do is dodge, no clear shots are left open for him.

Near heard the groan before Light, and ran from the closet for the door. "Light, the floor!" He calls in to him.

Light didn't need it any clearer than that as he hurries towards the hall, but its a little too late as the floor caves in taking him and B with it. The two of them lay in the broken rubble and dust. Light was the first to recover but when he tries to move he cries out in pain. Pulling a nail from his arm by yanking the board its stuck to away from him, he holds his hand to the hole to keep the bleeding to a minimum. Looking up through the hole at the floor he'd fallen from, he sees that Near is gone. A few pained whimpers come from him as his pained legs try to stand.

"Ugh!" His head slams back onto the broken pile covering the floor from a punch he'd just received. Light can feel B's weight drop down over his body as he straddles his hips, the man's hands wrap firmly around his neck. Just when Light thinks that he's going to be strangled to death, one hand lets go and starts to pull at his face beneath his eye!

"Eeeeye fooor eeeye." Growls the man; the tip of his tumor touching Light's chin due to the length of it.

Light let out a desparate scream when the man's fingernail caught under his eye.

...

Mello is staring in horror at the blood staining Light's arm, he's even more shocked by the tear of blood running down from the man's closed left eye. He reached out to shake them, wake them up. After all he had agreed to watch them, but maybe they were handling things but its a little rough and tumble right now. Last thing he wanted was more lip from the brat and angst from the grieving journalist. Better to just leave them alone.

Light bucked and struggled to get free, his head tossing left and right to keep the man from pulling his eye from its socket. He heard the foot steps before Pyramid Head and squeezed his eyes shut when a large boil was plunged clean through by the knife Near weilded, having it burst open. Blood and puss sprayed over both of them, moreso when Near moved the knife in a zig-zag to cause further injury until he was bashed away; knocking into the wall, the younger male coiled in on himself. Ducking his head when B came over and jerked him to his feet by the front of his shirt. He waited for further pain to come but the male seemed only to stare at him. His eyes raised before his dipped head came up to meet the man's, or whatever's, gaze directly. B's body began to shake, Near's shirt released dropping him to the floor. He tried to run but he's slammed into the wall with a hand to his forehead to pin him there. The tumor around B's head slowly receeded back into his brain revealing the man he was before darkness engulfed him.

"L." He whispered while pressing himself into Near.

The teen shook his head at what the man said, left surprised when B's arms wrap around him bringing him to his knees with him. What the hell was going on? Is he having an episode? Light watched in the distance, knowing exactly what was going on. He had always thought that Near and L's dead gaze was similar and in the darkness, all covered in blood Near's hair honestly does look black. B must see his brother in the male.

"Y-..yes B, i-..its me." Mutters Near more in confusion than fear.

The man laughed manically. "I thought you had died. I thought that I killed you but... you're here."

Light's eyes flashed hearing the man's laughter. It was the same as the one he'd heard over the phone when he thought he was talking to Mikami.

"Let's go home, B." Near continued to lie, though, in truth he sounded nothing like L. He lacked L's wonder and mock, Near was simply deadpan.

The creature nods before standing. With Near out of the way, it gave Light the perfect chance for the perfect shot and with the gun to the back of the man's head, he fired. The scream could have shook the building as B's right eye was blown out from the back. Near cried out as well, dropping down to the floor holding his leg. Light had no time to tend to the boy's wound, he had to finish the blind killer off. B staggered away from Near, again stun making him dig in the hole within his head and the tumor started to return in slow pulsating growths. But Light wasn't about to let the man's strength return and with every ounce of energy he had left he charged at him shoving him with his shoulder knocking him through the window. Hearing the grunts of pain, Light hurries to Near's side.

"Are you alright?"

"The bullet grazed my leg, I don't think I can walk on it. Nevermind me, though, check to see if he's dead. Hurry!"

Going over to the window, almost losing his footing from the loose floorboards, Light looks down at the street. He expected the man to be gone, to already be on his way back up to the apartment, but there he lay. Beyond Birthday... Dineas Elliot... dying in the street, head split open in the back and spine busted keeping his limbs from moving even if he wanted them too. And after two hard breaths, the man smiled and lay still.

...

Light has Near piggybacked to help him move around faster. They're in the hall of the apartment building wondering how to get to old town sooner than later. Its dark outside, that much they know, but the time is off everywhere anyhow so its hard to say exactly when the accident will truly happen.

"One of these doors should take us to old town, or close enough to it." Near says over his shoulder.

"That's impossible." Light starts for the elevator.

"No. Where we are is considered 'nowhere'. This isn't like going to the other world with the White Claudia, I've brought us here on spiritual energy coming from everywhere, which makes the air nothing but large portals. Do you understand?"

"I can... Whereas with the herb I'm brought to this world as it exist, but with your gift its the entire world we're in rather than a borrowed energy from a soul."

"You catch on quick, Light." Looking around the hall, he points to a door. "Let's try that one over there. We have to hurry from the apartment, we may have helped Mikami escape, but B isn't really gone, as long as there's someone that fears him, he'll only keep coming back."

"Okay.." He starts toward apartment 202 but pauses. His gaze catches sight of a pale blur heading into 204. It looked... it looked like Mikami. "Did you see that?"

Looking around, Near shakes his head.

"We should go this way, it may sound weird but, I think I just saw Mikami go in." He's walking two doors down. "He may be trying to guide us."

It didn't seem impossible, strange, but not impossible. Light and Mikami have some sort of connection, and it must be projecting even without the deceased man having any knowledge of it. Light opens the door. It looked like a regular apartment room, that is until he stepped through it. The room was moving suddenly, and there was music playing. No they're not in a room they're...

"We're at the amusement park." Near looks around them as the merry-go-round turned them in a full circle on repeat.

"How can we be...?" His words trail off when Near speaks again.

"The shifting worlds, Light. Nevermind that, though, do you see Mikami again?"

Looking around as far as his vision expands, but he saw no sign of the man. Walking forward, careful to step lively so that they wouldn't fall over from the spinning machine, he heads towards the stairs stepping down them swiftly. He didn't need to be told to keep a sharp eye out for Mikami, he was just glad that the machines and signs and things lit the place up. The darkness in the apartment was concerning and frightening, way to easy for something horrible to hide away in. But here, he can see everything, which is how he saw.

"What are those?"

"They're the victims who died here. Unlike with the herb, they're seen as they are on this side- avoid them, Light" There's sudden panic in Near's tone. "these souls have the ability to posses you and its nearly impossible not to follow them to their death."

"Right."

Light moves quickly but carefully through the invisible mob, it was hard for him to simply sprint to the next ride for a bit of safety due to the fact that one minute he would be walking a clear path then one would simply appear out of nowhere in front of them. A loud whiff cut through the air right before an explosive boom.

"Its starting." Near looks into the sky.

Screams are heard all around them, man, woman, and child; the dark mist began running about frantically. Light watches his steps but one of the people ran through him, regardless. The feeling was cold, fearful, and staggering. He almost fell to his knees from the pain and fear running through him, but Near's voice snapped him out of it.

"Light, let's move! Its not safe here."

More explosions rack through the sky above them, some large pieces scatter about the area breaking the machines and cracking small holes in the ground.

"I have to find my son first! He went to the restroom..."

Near cocked a thin brow, then dug his finger into the small hole in the journalist's arm.

"Aaaa!" The physical pain cut through any haunt that possessed his body, and with urgency he stands rushing off. "Keep your finger in my arm! I'm gonna cut through." He cried out again as the teen's finger dug a little further. But he withheld the rest of his pained yells. Making his ways around the park, watching out only for the large burning pieces of metal or concrete, he managed to get onto a booth by the ferris wheel. Looking out over the, due to the damage its taking, slowly darkening park. "Over there!" He points before running off in the direction of a machine with flying elephants. It wasn't easy to see the holes being made in the ground but luckily they made it over without Light stumbling too much. Climbing the four stairs he opens the little gate onto the ride and the two have a drop painfully to the ground.

Gritting his teeth, he reaches behind him shoving Near off of his back. "You can stop poking me now." He applies pressure to his wounded arm. Looking around he asks. "Where are we?"

A loud boom sounds from overhead.

"I think we're in the sewers." He replies after taking a deep whiff. Feeling the ground shake; sounds of crumpling bits of rock following, Near stands up only to kneel back down. He had no idea getting shot hurt so much- even from a graze!

"Are you alright? You're leg is still bothering you?"

"Yes. But it's not important right now, besides, I'll only feel it when I'm here, once we get back the pain will be gone."

It didn't exactly make Light feel any better about it, but he nods. "I'm sorry that I shot you."

"It was an accident from the bullet exiting Pyramid Head, its not a big deal."

"It doesn't mean I don't feel guilty over it." He reaches out tousling the kids hair like he was his younger sister. "Near, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. But talk as we move, we don't wanna get crushed down here." Standing, he leans heavily against a wall. Muck and dampness greet his palm. Making a face of distaste, he starts forward.

"Here, I can still carry you." Standing in front of Near he crouches down. "Come on. I really don't mind."

Climbing back onto Light's back he rest his cheek against Light's shoulder. Being here with two people really is taking a lot out of him, he's more tired then he would have given thought to. "So what is it that you wanted to know?"

"Its... you know how my keeping Mikami from being here caused a crack in this place?" He could feel Near nod, his cheek brushing his shoulder. "Well, I was wondering if it would be the same if I took someone out."

"You mean this L person you've grown fond of."

"...Yeah."

"You could remove him, but can you live with a ghost, Light? Live with someone who doesn't know they're dead, someone who will be virtually invisible to nearly all the world? Do you really think he could handle a life of solitude with you?"

"L's had it hard growing up, he was invisible anyway unless someone was insulting him because of his brother. I don't think that L would mind at all."

"Hm." Near could only smirk at the man's resolve. "You're strange, Light Yagami. I've never met anyone like you before."

"How so?"

"You generally care about someone even when you're using them, its strange."

Light didn't believe that to be true, but then Near has only known what he's shown to him so he can see how the profit would come to that state of mind. "So is there a way?"

"Yes. You have to find L's soul and get possessed by him, once you've accomplished that you can walk out of here and he'll go right along with you."

"Its that simple?"

"If by 'simple' you mean to tell me that you can override all of L's thoughts and feelings to live as you are now, while having his soul bound to you, than yes," He shifts a bit during a turn around a corner. "it is that simple."

"All of L, I have to consume."

"Yes."

Light thinks quietly as they make their way to a patch of light coming from what they hope is a manhole. "I can do it, that's what a relationship is based on, right? Just tell me how."

"Later, once we get out of here."

"Okay."

"May I ask you a question, Light?" He asks when seeing a nod. "How can you love a ghost?"

"Honestly, I don't look at him as a ghost. I can see him, and touch him; L makes me smile. I wouldn't care if I imagined him, I think I'd love him either way." After a thought he adds. "Even if, as you say, emotions are fickle. As long as it isn't in the same period of time, you can love as many people as you like." Looking up at the lights overhead that cut in and out, he kneels down. "Can you climb? I'll be behind you if you feel yourself falling, but try to make it out quickly if you can so the injury doesn't get worse."

"You don't have to tell me that." He starts up the cold metal ladder, allowing his injured leg to lag a bit in stepping up the rung.

Light comes up behind him. The two brace themselves steady when a rumble shakes the ground above them. When the ground steadies, Light climbs a bit higher up to shove at the manhole cover. Pushing it aside he waits for Near to climb out then joins him on the street of old town.

"Damn it." He mutters.

"What is it?"

"The house has already collapsed, Mikami is on his way to the tower." Waiting for Near to climb onto his back he starts off for the bridge, hoping the fastest route there hasn't caved in yet. Light is winded shortly, breaths coming in and out hard and steady.

"If I'm slowing you down then leave me here, I'll be fine."

"No. I'm fine carrying you; I'm just pushing myself because we're running out of time." Feeling that his breaths are caught, he starts off again. It was almost as if his senses have been down-sized being here this way, unlike his borrowing a soul to come where every scent of ash and burned skin suffocated his lungs. He really needs to learn that hot-wire trick of Matt's, this trip would have gone a lot better.

By the time Light reached the bridge his entire body was on fire with raw nerves on the verge of breaking down from being pushed too hard.

"The rest is up to you, you only need to talk to him and he'll listen." Letting his body slip from Light's hold, Near grabs onto the railing for support.

Light races up the stairs of the tower, pulling the door open quickly. "Mikami!"

Turning his head the man looks shocked and confused. "Light... what are you doing here?"

Panting, Light crosses the short distance pulling Mikami into his arms. It felt so good to hold him again he was almost in tears but instead starts to laugh.

Smiling, he holds Light back. "I'm happy to see you too, but now isn't the time for a happy reunion, the town, maybe even the whole city is about to go up in flames." He turns the key to lower the bridge. "We have to get out of here."

Shaking his head, Light keeps his hold on the man, shrinking to the floor. "You don't have to worry about anything anymore."

"What are you talking about?" His voice is growing nervous hearing how close the landing sites are getting to where he is. "Didn't you see what was going on, something is causing explosions and-..."

"Ssshhh." He strokes the back of the man's head. "Listen to me... do you remember when the two of us were together?"

"Yes."

"Do you remember having these weird moments where you would feel like you needed to be somewhere else?"

Mikami thought it over, though, it was hard to concentrate with all the chaos blowing up around them. "I think so."

"The reason you were so restless, the reason that you had to come back here is because you're..." He sighs in frustration. There has to be an easier way to go about telling someone that they're dead. "Mikami... I can't find a lesser way to say this other than to just tell you but..."

Near watches the tower on pins and needles. 'Come on, Light. I told you not to hesitate.'

Eyes wide in disbelief, the lawyer shakes his head. "I'm... I'm dead... but how? I feel fine... I..." He trails off in thoughtful disbelief.

Light nods slowly. "You died here, years ago, before you and I met... you died while trying to save all these people."

"But how is that possible? None of this has happened before- you're insane!"

"I wish there was a better explanation to how it all works but... you're duty to this place, this recycled hell, is over." He can hear Near calling to him. "Mikami... I don't know how you managed to be with me but we were together and those were some of the best days of my life. It isn't any easier for me to say goodbye to you then it is for you to understand that you're gone." He looks at the man as if to memorize his face. "Please believe me." He touches the man's cheek gently.

"But I don't wanna die." Mikami begins to tear up; his chest puffing in and out rapidly from dry sobs. "I don't wanna die!" He shouts in hysterics.

Wrapping his arms around the man, he pulls him into his chest. "It won't hurt, I promise." Though he has no guaruntee of that statement he has to believe it.

"Come with me- come with me! We can go together!" He tries to move from Light's grasp but he remains pinned.

"I can't go with you, but I can take you with me, Mikami... I can remember you."

He can feel the man nodding into his chest, muffled sniffles sound now and then.

"Light, let's go!" Shouts Near.

"Please remember me."

"I will. Always." Light nods.

Mikami swallows hard when his body starts to feel lighter; he can see a bright Light surrounding him. Light can too, though his is more orange then white.

"Light!" Near practically screamed.

...

Three months later...

A black car pulls into Old Town Silent Hill. A blond man and woman climb out. Map in her husbands hand, he looks around.

"I thought this was a resort place?" He says, folding up the map.

"Maybe we're in the wrong place. I told you to ask for directions in the city." Says the woman.

"Wedi, please, not now. Christopher is tired, and we should just go back the other way and find a hotel to spend the night. We'll find the amusement park in the morning." He taps his hand on top of the car when his wife rolls her eyes. "We've got all week, so I can get lost if I want to. Get in the car."

"I'm gonna ask the man who owns the store which is area is closest, so that this doesn't happen tomorrow. Wait here." She takes four steps towards the convenience store stopping when a man walks out. "Oh nevermind, I'll ask him. Excuse me, sir?"

Light walks out of the convenience store and straight for the families car.

"Hey!" Calls the father.

Light reaches into the glove compartment for a red marker to mark a location on his map. He had just gotten into town and already he's lost. What luck. Scooting over to the drivers seat, he starts the car.

"Do you hear me buddy! Get out of my car!" The man shouts reaching for the deaf male's shoulder to pull him out.

But the car starts up and drives off down the street. Only thing was, it wasn't their car they saw leave and its still sitting right where they had parked it.

"What in the world!" Wedi nearly faints seeing the car disappear.

Light had found Mikami and spoke to him, he was even awakened from his unconscious state by the albino and Mello. He was happy that he'd gotten to see Mikami one last time, but as far as time went it was not on Light's or Mello's side as they two race from the home in attempts to make it out of town before the reset. In this case Light is lucky, now he can see Mikami every week as he's been sewn in to repeat the nightmare over and over again.


End file.
